A Cliche Dream
by Kikoia
Summary: When Tyrn is warped from her world to the A:TLA world, she's immediately thrown into the Gaang's everyday adventures. From fighting a war to romance amongst friends, this is sure to be a wild ride! Chapter 18 is now UP!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! My very first story is now up! I really would appreciate it if you readers would review, 'cause I had SO much fun writing this first chapter! Basically, I went and wrote my all-time favorite dream of being whisked away into the avatar world after reading so many stories like that. OK, so without further ado, the first chapter of ****A Cliché Dream****!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

Shutting off her computer, Tyrn leans back into her chair with a sigh. Fanfiction was her absolute favorite website to waste time on, especially when her family was driving her nuts.

"God, it wasn't my fault that Mags got out the yard!" she mutters, still pissed off at her parents. Her dog was a lovable retriever, but when she got into mischief Tyrn always got the blame. "Why not Mitchell? My own brother should have some blame in this." Tyrn continued her musings as she walked over to her mirror.

Combing her medium black hair, she looks at herself in the mirror. _Nothing special. _She stares as her big brown-black eyes stared back at her. She didn't consider herself a goddess, but not an ugly stepsister either. Somewhere in the middle, she decided. Getting into bed, Tyrn starts to daydream about her favorite stories on fan fiction. Most of the time she was reading stories about Avatar: the Last Airbender. Flying bison, adventure at every turn, bending the elements to your will, it was every dream she ever wanted. But reality seemed to take over every time she longed for a dream that would never be. And so was her last thought as Tyrn drifted into deep sleep.

* * *

Tyrn could hear the chirps of birds and the rustles of an animal running around. _Huh? Since when did nature decide to have a sleepover in my room? _Opening her eyes, she tiredly sat up and yawned. But when she looked around she almost did a double-take. She was surrounded by a dense forest, and as she got up, she started to walk towards a cliff. Stepping out into the sunlight, Tyrn blinked as she saw a coastline underneath the cliff she had walked out onto. _Ok. First I go to sleep in my pink-like-a-neon-sign room, now I'm on an island in the middle of nowhere? _

Tyrn looked down at herself, expecting to find her cartoon owl nightgown, but almost jumped when she saw a brown tunic with flowing sleeves, along with black pants and some wraps on her ankle. To top it all off she found she was carrying a brown bag on her shoulder. Looking into the bag, she was surprised to find some of her treasured items inside: her iPod, her journal, and some other necessities. "Ok…at least there's SOME familiarity here." She muttered to herself.

Deciding to go exploring, Tyrn wandered down the cliff onto the beach, as she walked around the corner, she almost immediately ran back behind the wall. Because right in front of her, Tyrn was shocked to see a big, furry animal just 20 feet away! Then, a shock of recognition: _Appa? _

Startled to find one of her favorite animated animals ahead of her, she was even more shocked to see an orange figure and a blue figure on top of Appa. You guessed it, Aang and Katara.

"Wait till you see it, Katara. The air temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!" Aang happily proclaimed. From her point of view, however, Tyrn could see that Katara was a little less excited, but more hesitant than anything.

"Aang, I know you're excited but, it's been more than 100 years since you were home." She replied carefully, looking over the hyperactive Airbender.

"That's why I'm excited!" said Aang.

Katara still looked wary. "It's just…a lot can change in all that time."

Aang seemed oblivious to Katara's tone. "I know, but I need to see it for myself." He airbended down from Appa's huge head, and Tyrn quickly hid behind some nearby bushes.

_Ok, since when did I get myself into the Avatar world? _Tyrn furiously thought over what she had done last night, but she really couldn't think of any reason why she was suddenly stuck in one of her favorite animated shows. _I didn't fall and bump my head or something...we__ll, judging from Aang and Katara's conversation, it looks like only the third episode. _Tyrn suddenly snickered, knowing what was coming next, so she peered over the bushes to watch.

Walking over to a snoring Sokka (_Geez I can hear him from all the way over here! _Tyrn rolled her eyes.) Aang tried to get the sleeping warrior up.

"Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!" Aang proclaimed as he leaned over Sokka's sleeping bag.

Sokka groaned. "Sleep now, temple later…" With that, he rolled over and tried to fall asleep again. Aang blinked, but then his face got a mischievous grin. Grabbing a nearby stick, Aang started his prank.

"Sokka! Wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" He yelled as he dragged the stick over Sokka's prone form. That did the trick.

"AAAAAHHH! Get it off, get it of- aaaaahhhhOMPH!" Sokka yelled as he hopped around until he fell over. Katara merely giggled as Aang looked over a very pissed Sokka. "Great, you're awake. Let's go!"

Tyrn giggled along with Katara. _Man, Sokka isn't a happy camper! _She suddenly froze, as she heard Katara say something.

"Wait, what's that noise?" Katara slid down Appa's tail and looked over to Tyrn's hiding spot. _Don't look over, don't look over, don't look ove- darn! _"Hey, who are you?" Tyrn looked up to find the blue eyes of the waterbender.

"Uh…hi?" Tyrn stuttered, making to get up.

"Hey, who you talking to, Katara?" Aang make a quick air ball and flew over. "Hey, a kid!" Standing next to Katara was a girl with black hair and brown eyes, about his height.

"Excuse me? I'm not a kid! Well, I turned 12 a few months ago, but still!" Tyrn said, looking at Aang's sudden appearance.

"DON'T TRUST HER! She could be Fire Nation!" Sokka accused, coming over with his boomerang. Pissed at the accusation, Tyrn flicked Sokka's forehead. "OW!"

"Um…anyways…" Katara turned from her brother, who was clutching his head. "Who are you?" she asked Tyrn.

"Uh, can you do something for me, for one sec?" Tyrn asked, holding out her arm. Katara and Aang looked at her, confused. "I'm pretty sure this is a dream, so can you pinch me so I can make sure?"

"Gladly." And with that, Sokka pinched her, trying to get back at her for earlier.

"Ow! Ooookay, not dreaming then." Said Tyrn as she ripped her arm away from the pinchy warrior. "I'm Tyrn. Tyrn…Song." she said, knowing that she wasn't going to give away her last name yet.

"Oh, hi! I'm Aang, that's Katara, and that's Sokka." Aang pointed to the each person respectively. "your name is really pretty."

"Uh, thanks?" Tyrn stuttered, blushing a bit.

"Yeah, pretty suspicious..." muttered Sokka.

Tyrn shook her head, muttering to herself. "Why am I here? You guys aren't supposed to be real."

All three looked at her in confusion. "What do mean, not real? I mean sure, Aang being the Avatar and all, that's understandable, but what the heck are you talking about?" asked Katara.

"Aw, thanks Katara! Now you've revealed Aang's the Avatar. She could turn him into the Fire Nation!" yelled Sokka, still holding his boomerang up.

"Whoa, whoa! I'm not Fire Nation, for crying out loud! I'm not any nation!" yelled Tyrn.

"HUH?" Katara and Aang looked at her, more confused than ever.

"Look, as far as I know, I'm not from here. I'm not from your world! I just woke up and found myself up on the cliff!" Tyrn froze, now realizing the severity of the situation.

"Our world? So you don't know anything about our world at all?" Katara was still puzzled. How could she be from another world?

"No no, I know you guys. I know all about you, this world and everything!" Tyrn started rambling, as she started to have a nervous breakdown.

"You see, she is a spy!"

"SOKKA!" Katara scolded her brother.

Aang was the only one who was quiet, looking over the situation.

"Tell you what…" Tyrn stopped her breakdown and looked over at Aang. "Since you don't really have anywhere to go…" Katara and Sokka stopped their bickering and started to listen. "…why don't you come with us?"

"What?" Both Sokka and Tyrn exclaimed, Tyrn with shock, Sokka with anger.

"Sokka, she clearly doesn't know what she's doing, she doesn't have a home, and she seems pretty nice to me, so why not take her along?" Aang looked at Sokka, hope filling his big gray eyes.

"Yeah Sokka, it would be nice having another female in the group." Katara reasoned, glancing at Tyrn.

Sokka grumbled for a moment. "...ok fine! She can come!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Tyrn went to hug Katara and Aang, but before she could reach Sokka, he stopped her.

"But, I still don't trust you." Tyrn's face fell for a second, but then she smiled.

"That's alright! We can work on that." She said, still smiling.

"Ok, then it's off to the Southern Air Temple!" With that, Aang leaped onto his air ball and flew onto Appa's head.

Katara grinned, and as she and Sokka started to follow, she turned back to Tyrn and said "Hey, you coming or what?"

Tyrn smiled, and as she walked up Appa's tail, she thought to herself.

_Well, here goes nothing._

* * *

**WELL? Did you guys like it? Or do you hate it and want to chuck it into a volcano? Just review and tell me what you think! Next chapter we'll continue Tyrn's adventure with the gaang! Until then, ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay! Next chapter is up, and Tyrn and the Gaang are headed off to the Southern Air Temple, where a few new discoveries are made. We find out if Tyrn and bend or not, and Aang's reaction to the desertedness of the Temple.**

**By the way, who do you think Tyrn should end up with? Like a romantic relationship? I'm kind of leaning towards Aang on this one, but let me know if anyone else fits your tastes! **

**And without further ado, CHAPTER 2!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

Sitting back on Appa's saddle, Tyrn looks out over the sea as Appa flew by. Glancing at her fellow companions, she was about to get lost in her thoughts when Sokka's stomach decided to make itself heard.

"Hey, stomach, be quiet, alright?" Sokka said, looking down at his empty belly. "I'm trying to find us some food."

Tyrn turned to Katara. "Does he always think of food? He's like a bottomless pit with a sinkhole to match."

Katara merely giggled and nodded. "I'm surprised he hasn't eaten Appa next." Appa groaned in response.

Tyrn snickered. _He reminds me of Mags. _The suddenly thought of her dog set a small frown on her face. _I really wish I knew how everyone's doing back home._

"Hey! Who ate all of my blubbered seal jerky?" Sokka quickly glanced at Tyrn, who just shrugged.

"Oh, that was food?" Aang turned. "I used it to start the campfire last night! Sorry."

"You WHAT? Awww…no wonder the flames smelled so good." The look on Sokka's poor food-deprived face sent Katara and Tyrn into another fit of giggles.

"Hey, Tyrn?" Tyrn turned to Aang. "Why don't we get you know you better? You know, since we're going to be a traveling group anyways." He looked at her with a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, it would at least pass the time and I'm tired of listening to Sokka's groaning over here." Katara said while looking at her sullen brother huddled in a corner.

"Um, ok I guess. Fire away!" Tyrn said, leaning back. _This could take a while._

"Ok, are you a bender?" Katara inquired.

Tyrn shook her head. "Not that I know of. There's no such thing as bending in my world."

"Huh? No bending? So everyone feels like me when I get splashed by Katara's weird magic?" Sokka asked, popping up from his fetal position on the floor.

"Well, we can't miss what we don't have." Shrugged Tyrn.

"What's in your bag?" Katara asked again, looking at the brown bag sitting next to Tyrn.

"You know, I've never really check it…" Tyrn grabbed the bag and started pulling out some of the items. "My sketchbook, a money bag with some coins, my guitar picks, my iPod…"

"Hey, what's this?" Sokka leaned over and grabbed the iPod. "Is it some kind of weapon?"

Sighing, Tyrn reached over and snatched her iPod from his prying hands. "It isn't a weapon." She struggled to not call him stupid, "It's a music playing device. See, you press some buttons and then…" Tyrn put the volume on high so that the rest can hear the music, and the starting notes of Rihanna's _Take a Bow_ started to play.

"Wow, that's amazing! How does it do that?" Both Katara and Sokka stared at the little iPod on the floor. Aang left Appa's head and hopped over.

"I don't know the real process, just that the technology in my world lets us make things like this." Tyrn shrugged.

"You got any other music?" Aang inquired, looking at the things Tyrn had dragged out from her bag.

"Well, sure! But I like to play music just as much as I listen to my iPod." Tyrn rubbed the back of her head.

"That's why you have the guitar pick, right?" asked Katara, as she examined said object.

"Wait; there are guitars in this world?" Tyrn stared at Katara.

"Uh, yeah! Not a lot of people play them, though. Most people stick with lutes, or something." Aang said absentmindedly, as he took the pick form Katara and looked at it.

"Sweet! I gotta get one when we stop at the market!" With that thought, Tyrn put most of the things back in her bag, except for her iPod which she started to put back in her ears. It looked like conversation had stopped as Aang returned to his usual perch on Appa's head, and Katara followed. Looking at the music list, Tyrn put on a song, her fingers twitching as she longed to play along.

* * *

Tyrn was shaken out of her music when Aang made an announcement. "Hey look, the mountain range! We're almost there!"

Katara looked at Aang, slightly concerned. "Aang, before we get there, I want to talk to you about the airbenders."

Aang glanced at her then looked forward. "What about them?"

Katara looked down before continuing. "I just want you to be prepared by what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother. They could've done the same to your people."

Tyrn turned away at that point. She knew that Aang was still in denial about what happened. Gripping the side of the saddle, she looked on as they flew straight up the mountain as the finally reached their destination.

"There it is…the Southern Air Temple!" Aang grinned as he looked at his home.

"Aang, it's amazing!" Katara exclaimed.

"I agree to that, just look at it!" Tyrn agreed, as she and Sokka sat up to get a better view.

Aang continued to grin at their faces. "Appa, we're home buddy. We're home."

Making their way up the path, Katara and Tyrn just looked at each other when Sokka exclaimed "Where do I get something to eat?"

Tyrn rolled her eyes as Katara began her lecture. "You're one of the first outsiders in a hundred years to step foot onto an Air Temple, and all you can thing about is food?"

Tyrn knew that at one look at Sokka's grumpy face that yes, yes he could. "I'm just a simple guy, with simple needs." _Yeah, and a simple brain too. _Tyrn thought as she held back a snicker.

The three caught up with Aang as he looked over a large field with tall poles. "This is where me and my friends went to go play Air Ball! And over there's where the bison slept and…" He trailed off, a small frown on his face. "This place used to be full of people and bison and lemurs. Now there's just a bunch of weeds."

Tyrn frowned, as she stepped up to where Aang was to look out over the area. _It just seems so…desolate. _She thought, as she faintly heard Aang's next words. "I can't believe how much things have changed. "

Tyrn turned to look at Katara and Sokka, and faintly nodded at Aang before speaking. "So, this Air Ball, how do you play?" Tyrn nudged Sokka.

"Yeah, why don't we play a game?" Sokka didn't notice the smirks on Aang and Tyrn's faces.

Both Tyrn and Sokka stood on top of the poles at one end of the field as Aang twirled a ball in his hand, all three in a ready stance. Aang tossed the ball in the air and quickly airbended it over to the other side. The ball quickly bounced around until finally hitting Sokka through the goal.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt…" Tyrn spoke out loud, as she turned back to Aang.

"Haha! Aang – 7, Sokka – 0, and Tyrn – 0!" Katara and Tyrn both smiled as they watched Aang's happy expression.

"Ugh, making him happy is putting me in a world of hurt…" Sokka suddenly stopped talking as he spotting a helmet in the grass. Tyrn didn't take her eyes away from Aang as she heard Katara and Sokka head for the rusty Fire Nation helmet. "Don't call him over just yet…" she told them quietly, not turning away from her position. They nodded as they came back to watch the game.

"Ok Tyrn, ready for a beating, airbending style?" Aang taunted as he twirled the ball in his fingers.

"Hit me with your best shot!" Tyrn smirked, remembering the song.

"I really wouldn't say that if I were you!" Sokka called out, still gripping his stomach where the ball hit him.

Aang quickly tossed the ball at the poles, making its way over to Tyrn. Suddenly, Tyrn shocked them to no end. She roundhouse kicked at the ball; but instead of touching the ball, a powerful gust sent it straight back, knocking Aang into his goal!

"Oh my god, I'm sooooo sorry Aang!" Tyrn ran across the poles to where Aang laid on his back.

"Sorry? What was that?" Sokka yelled as he ran to where they were standing. "I thought you said you couldn't bend!"

"I did!" Tyrn yelled back, but suddenly stop when she replayed what she did in her mind. _Can I really bend? _

Aang thought for a second, and then quickly tossed the ball at Tyrn. "Think fast!"

Letting out a small shriek, she held out her hands and caught the ball…with airbending.

Katara, Sokka and Aang looked at her hands in shock. _An airbender? _All three of them thought as Tyrn stopped bending and the ball dropped at her feet.

"Awesome! I can airbend!" Tyrn cried out, suddenly dancing with joy. _Finally! Dream number 76, accomplished! _She stopped dancing with a grin on her face.

"So this means I'm not the last airbender in the world?" Aang exclaimed, a wide smile breaking out on his features. Letting out an excited whoop, he rode on a quick air ball around them.

Katara and Sokka snapped out of shock and looked at Tyrn with smiles on their faces. "You do realize Aang's going to bother you a lot more with training, right?" Sokka spoke slowly, following the overexcited airbender around the clearing with his eyes.

Tyrn's grin faded a bit, but then came back full force. "No problem! I need to master my element, right? And with Aang as the only airbender for miles, I was going to be stuck with him anyways." Tyrn chuckled. She was suddenly interrupted as Aang flew by them.

"Hey guys, lets go explore some more! There's a lot more to see." He said, whirling around them before taking off in a new direction.

Tyrn took off after him. "Hey, wait up! You need to show me how to do that!"

Katara made to go after them before Sokka touched her shoulder. "You do realize you can't protect him forever, right?" He stated quietly, nodding back to the Fire Nation helmet. Katara hesitated before continuing to walk towards the others.

* * *

Chasing the small lemur through the halls, Aang and Tyrn paused at the ledge, trying to catch their breaths.

"Who knew a lemur could run so fast!" Tyrn panted as she tried to catch her breath.

"Well, we better not lose him, then! Let's keep going!" Aang laughed happily.

Tyrn gulped as she looked over the ledge. "How do we get down?"

Aang just shook his head. "It's no problem for two airbenders! Come on, grab my hand."

Tyrn looked at his hand for a moment before grabbing it, a slight blush staining her cheeks. "Ok, but promise not to let me fal-" She was cut off as he leap over the edge, taking her with him. Both of them starting to laugh as they leap from rock to rock, catching up to the lemur at the bottom. Touching down, Tyrn brushed herself off as Aang followed the lemur into a small room, covered by tattered cloths.

Her eyes widened. _Oh no, that's where Monk Gyatso's bod- _her thoughts were shattered as an anguished cry came from where Aang had gone in.

"Aang? Are you alright?" Tyrn cautiously stepped in, coming up behind Aang. "Come on, it will be alright." She put a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, Aang's tattoos started to light up. He stood up and started to whirl around in a powerful air bubble. An explosion rang out as Tyrn was tossed aside, just as Sokka and Katara came running in.

"What happened? Where's my dinner?" Sokka yelped when he saw an upset Aang activating in the Avatar State.

"He saw Monk Gyatso's corpse! I think he just snapped!" Tyrn yelled back as she looked up at Aang. Katara and Sokka gasped as they looked at the carnage of the Fire Nation litter across the floor.

"Tyrn! Come and help me try to calm him down!" Katara started to move over to where Aang was, along with Tyrn.

"Do it, before he blows us all off the mountain!" Sokka yelled, trying to hold on to the rock in front of him.

As Katara and Tyrn slowly crawled over to Aang's spot, Aang started to hover into the air. Tyrn's heart panged when she heard Aang's sobs in his sphere.

"Aang! I know you're upset, and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! I went through the same thing when I lost my mom." Katara looked down, remembering the pain she and her brother went through.

"Monk Gyatso and the others may be dead," Tyrn picked up where Katara left off. "But you still have a family! Katara and Sokka, and me too if you want! We'll be your family!"

Aang slowly started to come down, and Katara, Sokka and Tyrn went over to where he stood. "All three of us aren't going to let anything happen to our family. We promise." With that, Tyrn and Katara took Aang's hands.

Aang snapped out of the Avatar State fully. Leaning into Katara with a tired sigh, he whispered "I'm sorry."

"It's ok." Sokka knelt down and touched Aang's shoulder.

"But if they got this temple, that means they got the rest too. I really am the last airbender." Aang closed his eyes.

"That's not true! You still got Tyrn! She'll still be here with you, 100%." Katara looked over at Tyrn.

Tyrn stepped forward and hugged Aang. "Don't worry, if we're alone, we'll be alone together. Got that?" Tyrn smiled at Aang. He opened his eyes and smiled back.

* * *

As Aang stared at Avatar Roku's statue, he heard footsteps behind him.

"You ready to go?" Katara asked him.

Tyrn looked on as Aang confessed his confusion on how to contact Avatar Roku, when a sudden chatter made her look to the entrance. The lemur hopped over to Sokka and laid out some assorted fruits for him to devour, which he did very happily.

"Well Sokka, you got a new friend and food. You happy now?" Tyrn teased with a smirk on her face.

"Can't talk, must eat…hey!" Sokka looked up at her with indignation.

The group headed out to Appa. "We're all that's left of this place, me, Appa, and Momo. We have to stick together."

"Momo? Why did you name him after a peach?" Tyrn questioned.

Momo stole the peach Sokka was about to eat. "No reason." Aang smiled as the lemur leapt onto his shoulder. Everyone laughed as they flew off of the Southern Air Temple. Aang stared at his former home until it disappeared from sight.

"You ok Aang?" Tyrn walked over and sat next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he turned away from the temple and looked at Tyrn. "Hey, where did you get the airbender outfit?"

It was true, Tyrn was now wearing an outfit similar to Aang's, except it was a yellow top and pants with an orange skirt.

"I maybe or maybe not had taken it from the female airbender's rooms. You like it?" Tyrn stood up and quickly twirled around.

"It looks…nice. Fits your element." Aang smiled with a slight blush on his cheeks.

Tyrn sat down. "I might as well wear it. Represent, you know?"

"Yup! Last two airbenders, alone together." With that, both of them high fived each other, each with a big grin on their faces.

* * *

**WELL? Did you like it! Please review, it really really helps with my scatterbrained thinking process! Can't get fuel from spazzyness alone xD ****And remember to leave me a note on who you want Tyrn to end up with!**

**Till then, ciao!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know you people are reading my story! I can SEEEEEE you...not really, but story traffic never lies! If you're reading my story, at least take the time to review!**

**Chapter 3, coming up!**

**I don't own A:TLA or Something about the Sunshine by Anna Margaret, nor will I ever.**

* * *

If you happened to be on a ship in the middle of the ocean, you probably wouldn't have seen Appa amongst the clouds. However, if you listened closely…

"Ugh, stupid mini tornado! Why can't I get it right?" Tyrn grumbled as the spinning top in her hand evaporated.

Aang grinned at her. "Don't worry, you'll get it sooner or later!"

Tyrn looked at him skeptically. "And when did you finally get this down?"

"Third try."

"That was 37 times ago!" Tyrn slammed her hands down, sending a whirlwind around her in frustration.

Katara looked up from her sewing, and gave Tyrn a sympathetic look. "I know bending is hard, but you need to relax. Frustration is just going to slow down your progress. Trust me," and the look on her face showed she knew what she was talking about, "it isn't going to come overnight."

Tyrn sighed and leaned into Appa. _Easy for you to say. Why can't this be as easy as guitar? _Tyrn thought, closing her eyes.

Aang looked at Katara, and then turned to the lemur on his shoulder. "Momo, marbles please!"

Momo leapt into Aang's shirt and got the little clear balls. Tyrn opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey Katara, check out this cool airbending trick!" With that, Aang started to twirl the balls in a fast circle. Tyrn could almost feel a vein pop out on her forehead. _Showoff._

Katara didn't even look up. "That's great, Aang."

Aang slowly stopped spinning the marbles. "You didn't even look."

Then Katara looked at him. "That's great."

"I'm not even doing it." Tyrn snickered.

Sokka decided to speak up. "Stop bugging her airhead, you need to give girls space when they're doing their thing."

Both Tyrn and Katara turned to Sokka. "What do we being girls have to do with sewing?"

"Or practicing our bending?" Tyrn questioned.

"Easy. Girls are good at keeping house while guys are better at hunting, fighting, and stuff like that." Sokka replied, oblivious to both Katara and Tyrn's growing rage.

"All done with your pants! And look what a GREAT job I did!" Katara flung the half done pants at Sokka's face. Tyrn and Aang stifled a snicker, and Tyrn motioned Aang to pass her his marbles.

"Wait, Katara, I was just kidding! I can't wear these! KATARA?" Sokka stammered, putting an arm in the hole in his pants.

"Hey Sokka, think fast!" Small marbles started to pelt the warrior's head as Tyrn shot them at him with some minor airbending.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" with each marble Sokka fell back into Appa's saddle. Katara and Aang started to laugh at the fallen meat-lover on the ground, while Tyrn smirked, satisfied with her revenge.

Suddenly Aang felt a small pang on the side of his head. "Hey, why did you hit me?"

Tyrn turned away, grabbing her iPod. "It's not nice to show off." She said, referring to Aang's earlier stunt. With that, she put in her ear buds and got lost in the loud band music.

Aang shrugged, and looked at Sokka, who was examining the hole in his pants. "Don't worry Sokka, where we're going you don't need pants!" Aang pulled at Appa's reigns and steered them to a nearby island.

* * *

"Why did we stop here?" Tyrn questioned, as they all got off the "tired" bison. _Oh, I know __exactly __why. _Tyrn frowned. _Attempt number two at showing off, coming up!_

"At this rate, we're going to reach the North Pole by spring." Katara remarked, looking at Aang.

Aang turned back to them. "Yeah…but Appa's tired. Aren't you boy?" It took another nudge from Aang to get Appa to yawn.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's very convincing. Still, hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster."

"You can't win an argument against a flying bison who doesn't even talk. Brilliant." retorted Tyrn, raising an eyebrow.

Aang ran over to the edge of the water. "Look!"

All three of them turned to see a giant fish breach the calm waters. _Whoa, _thought Tyrn. _It's like a koi fish on steroids. _

Aang started to take off his pants and top. "That's why we're here; elephant koi! Katara you gotta watch me!" Tyrn blushed as he threw his clothes on the sand and leaped into the water. "COOOOOOOLD!" yelled Aang as he jumped at the sheer cold of the water and continued to swim towards the steroid koi fish. Sokka just did the crazy sign to Katara and Tyrn, and the group continued to watch the crazy airbender ride the fish.

Katara heard a crunching behind her, and turned to find Appa eating some…well, we don't know what. "Appa, don't eat that!" She turned and ran towards the curious bison.

Tyrn saw Aang's face fall when he saw that Katara had stopped watching him. "Geez, what's he going to do to get attention?" Tyrn murmured under her breath.

Sokka suddenly cried out. "There's something in the water!" Tyrn's eyes widened as she saw the huge shadow underneath the waves, heading for Aang's fish.

"AANG! Get out of there!" Katara screamed, running back to the water's edge.

Aang turned and saw them waving at the shoreline. He was suddenly tossed from his giant fish, and as he resurfaced to catch his breath, a huge shadow fell over him. Turning around slowly, Aang screamed at the sight of the King-Kong sized fin and ran for the shore, the fin trailing behind him. Tyrn was shoved back as Aang accidently ran into her. Both of them went slamming into a tree.

Disoriented, Tyrn looked up to find Aang sprawled out over her. "Uh, Aang?' she stuttered, "Can you please get off so my legs can get circulation?"

Aang looked up and, shocked by their position, leapt up, blushing slightly. "Heheh, sorry about that." He held out his hand and helped Tyrn get up.

Katara and Sokka ran over to them. "Are you guys alright?"

Tyrn brushed off the leaves from her clothing. "We're alright."

Sokka just shook his head. "Let's not stick around to find out what that was. Time to hit the road."

Right when he said that, however, Tyrn saw a blur of green, and found herself blindfolded and on the ground. Judging from what she heard, the others had gone down too.

"Hey, what the heck?" Tyrn yelled, struggling to get out of her binds.

* * *

"You four have some explaining to do." Tyrn heard an old man's voice speak.

"And if you don't answer all of our questions," a female voice cut in. "We're throwing you back into the waters with the unagi."

"Show yourself, cowards!" Sokka yelled, and everyone was suddenly greeted with abrupt light as the blindfolds were yanked off.

Blinking, the group found themselves staring at a group of female warriors, while being tied to a pole. "Hey, it's the Kyoshi Warriors!" Tyrn exclaimed, recognizing Suki's face among the women.

"Hey, where are the men who ambushed us?" Sokka stupidly asked. If Tyrn's hands weren't tied, she would've slapped Sokka upside the head.

Suki stepped forward. "There were no men. We ambushed you."

"Yeah, like a group of girls took us down." Sokka glanced at Aang, hoping for backup.

Tyrn shook her head. "Sokka, did you really forget this morning? Or do you want a reunion with Aang's marbles to your face?" she kicked Sokka's shin.

"Ow!" Sokka yelped.

Turning to Suki, Tyrn spoke calmly. "Sorry about him, he's just not appreciative to the work of females." She said, rolling her eyes.

Suki nodded, a slight smirk on her face.

"It's my fault, I'm sorry." Aang spoke up. "I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

The old man pointed an accusing finger at them. "How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far. We intend to keep it that way."

"Wait, you guys are named for Kyoshi? Avatar Kyoshi?" Aang questioned.

"Aang's the Avatar." Katara said.

"That's impossible." Suki retorted. "The last avatar was an airbender."

"Throw the imposter to the unagi!" yelled the elder. The Kyoshi Warriors flung open their fans and approached them.

"Hey Aang? Wanna see if I can nail the air jump?" whispered Tyrn, looking over at Aang.

Aang grinned. "One, two, three!" Both of them kicked up, spinning up and out into the air. Unfortunately, Tyrn fell and landed on her back while Aang gracefully floated to the ground.

Collective gasps arose from the crowd. "Oh my gosh!" "He's the Avatar!" "Who's the other girl?" "That looked like it hurt…"

Aang turned to Tyrn. "Hey, you alright?"

Tyrn groaned and stood up. "Yeah, peachy."

The elder stepped forward. "You are the Avatar! My apologizes for not knowing. But…who is the girl?" He gestured to Tyrn, who started to untie Katara and Sokka.

"She's…a friend. Her name is Tyrn. I'm Aang, that's Katara and Sokka. We just met Tyrn a couple days ago. She's an airbender, like me."

The crowd was quick to welcome the group, and as Appa was given the royal grooming, the Gaang went inside the main house to eat.

* * *

"All right! Dessert for breakfast!" Tyrn and Aang cheered, as they quickly grabbed some food. Tyrn glanced at Katara, who was looking around at the abundance of sweets.

"Here Katara, have a bun." Katara looked up to see Tyrn offering a pink pastry. Katara smiled, and took a bite out of the treat.

Aang looked over at Sokka, who was still sulking in the corner. "Hey Sokka, why don't you come and eat?"

"I'm not hungry."

"But you're always hungry!" Aang said, staring at the sullen warrior.

Tyrn smirked, icing around the corner of her mouth. "He's just sad because he's been repeatedly kicked in the butt by girls in the last couple hours."

"Hey, they snuck up on me!" Sokka retorted, standing up.

"Riiiight. And then they kicked your butt." Katara and Aang started to snicker at Tyrn's smart remark.

"Sneak attacks don't count!" Sokka started to mutter, snatching a few treats before walking away.

"Well, I'm going to go before the overexcited fan girls try and mob me." Katara looked at Tyrn in confusion before hearing the excited squeals outside their window. Tyrn snickered at Katara's pissed off expression before walking outside.

* * *

Tyrn walked around, trying to avoid Aang and his screaming mob of girls behind him. Walking into the woods, she got her iPod out from her bag and put it on high volume. Laying it down on a rock, she pressed play and started singing.

_Wake up to the blue sky,_

_Grab your shades and let's go for a ride._

_Breakfast at the ocean,_

_We'll do lunch at Sunset and Vine._

_Everyday's a dream in California_

_Every night the stars come out to play_

_Wish that I could always feel this way_

Tyrn got up and started to dance to the music. She loved playing this song when she needs to relax.

_There's something about the sunshine, baby_

_I'm seeing you in a whole new light_

_Out of this world for the first time, baby_

_Oooh, it's so right_

_There's something about the sunshine_

_There's something about the sunshine_

Aang had escaped from his followers, and he paused in his tree, trying to catch his breath. His ears suddenly picked up faint music coming from a few feet ahead of him. Jumping to the next branch, he peered down to find Tyrn dancing and singing to her iPod. He blushed when he saw her. _Oops, wrong part of the forest. But she does sing really good…and her dancing –ugh, stop it Aang! You like Katara remember?_ Aang was shaken out of her thoughts when Tyrn suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Katara!" Tyrn was a bit red from dancing and singing, and turned to shut off her iPod.

"Hey, Tyrn. I never knew you sung!" Katara came into the clearing, and sat down on the ground.

Tyrn rubbed the back of her head. "Well, it's not something I flaunt around. Anyways, I thought you were out shopping for supplies."

Aang's face fell when he heard the next words out of Katara's mouth. "Yeah, but I went in early after encountering Aang and his entourage."

Tyrn nodded. "I know, he's so into this whole Avatar worship, it makes me sick." Katara shook her head, laughing at Tyrn's look on her face.

"You know, you shouldn't take it so hard, him being the Avatar and all." Tyrn still didn't change her expression. "Come on; let's get back to the hut."

"No thanks, I'll go down to the beach instead." Katara nodded, then the two split and walked away.

Aang fell out of the tree. "Did this whole Avatar thing get to my head?" He shook his head. "Maybe I have been neglecting my friends…" Aang wandered off to the shoreline, following Tyrn's footsteps.

* * *

"Hey Tyrn!" Aang walked up to the moody airbender, who whirling a mini tornado in her hand. "Wow, you mastered the tornado! Congratulations, student." Aang said jokingly as he touched her shoulder.

Tyrn turned around. "Yeah, I guess." She closed her hand and put out the tornado. "I got it on my own, since you were…busy." She glared at him for a second, and then looked away.

Aang looked down for a second, and glanced up again. "Look, I'm sorry. The attention did get to my head. I was being a jerk."

Tyrn stood there for a second, before turning around with a small smile. "Yeah, you were. But it's okay, I'm not that surprised."

Tyrn suddenly turned to the ocean and saw an unusual sight. "What's the Fire Nation ship doing here?"

Aang looked out and gasped. "Oh no, it's Prince Zuko! Quick, we have to hide!" Aang grabbed Tyrn's wrist and hid behind some rocks.

_Ok, what happened next in this episode…? _Tyrn's memory of what happened suddenly struck her like lightning, and this knowledge frightened her. _Ugh, this is just freaking dandy! _She slaps her forehead.

Aang shushed her. "Shhh! They're comi—oomph!" Tyrn clapped her hand over his mouth as they heard the sounds of the rhinos approaching.

Once they were gone, Aang and Tyrn quickly ran around to the other side of the village, and already the Fire Nation soldiers had lit many of the buildings on fire. Aang airbended onto the roof. He leaned over and quickly grabbed Tyrn's hand and pulled her up.

Tyrn collapsed on the roof with a sigh. "You really need to train me more, I need to substitute airbending for getting around."

Both of them looked over the edge, and cringed when they saw Sokka and the other Kyoshi Warriors fall to the ground.

Zuko stood up. "Nice try avatar, but these little girls can't save you."

Aang motioned for Tyrn to stay, while he jumped down and called out to Zuko. "Hey!"

Tyrn scowled. "I'm perfectly capable of fighting!" She glanced down and saw some of the Kyoshi Warrior's fans on the ground. _Perfect._ Jumping down, she quickly grabbed them and ran towards Aang.

"Aang, catch!" Tyrn tossed a pair of fans to Aang, who quickly caught them and faced Zuko.

Zuko looked at Tyrn in confusion, seeing her airbender clothing. "What? Another airbender?"

Taking the distraction, Aang and Tyrn both sent a powerful gust at Zuko. Zuko jumped and kicked flames at both of them. Aang quickly jumped up, but Tyrn was caught unguarded and was sent back into a pole.

"No!" Aang's face flashed with anger as he revved up and sent Zuko straight into a house, crashing the house into little pieces. Aang quickly ran to pick up an unconscious Tyrn and air-balled over to where Katara was standing.

Katara had just sent some little kids into a safe house when she saw Aang with Tyrn on his back fly up to her.

"What happened?" Katara cried out when she saw Tyrn was unconscious.

"Zuko attacked…" Aang paused as he looked at the burning village around him. "Look at this place. It's all my fault."

"That's not true."

"It so is!" Aang protested. "These people got their village destroyed because of me, and Tyrn's unconscious."

"Then we'll have to run. I know it feels wrong but it's for the best." Katara told him.

Aang sighed. "I'll call Appa."

Aang yelled for his bison as Katara took Tyrn and settled her on Appa's saddle when he touched down. Sokka came running from behind a house and ramped up Appa's tail. His cheeks were still red as Katara looked at him. "What happened to you?"

He just shook his head.

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang yelled as Appa took off. In the air, Katara tried to assure Aang that what they did was for the best, but the young avatar suddenly leaped into the water below, and came up on the unagi's head! Yanking the unagi's antennae **(A/n or whiskers, or overgrown mustache I don't know!) **the unagi sprayed the village, effectively putting out the fires and soaking a very grumpy Zuko and crew. Aang jumped from the unagi's head and flew off on Appa.

"I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous." Aang started as he climbed into Appa's saddle.

"Yeah, it was." Katara went forward and hugged the young avatar.

Aang's face light up, unseen by Katara and Sokka, but someone else did see it. Tyrn started to wake up and when she opened her eyes she found herself staring at a very happy airbender being hugged by Katara. Her face went into a smirk, even though her eyes didn't share the same look.

"What am I, chopped liver?" she questioned as she slowly got up.

Katara gasped and let go of Aang, and the two boys followed her as Katara knelt by the tired girl. "Hey, are you alright?" Katara asked as she pulled Tyrn into a sitting position to check her back for injuries.

Tyrn nodded, but she winced anyways when Katara touched her shoulder. "Ok, lying about that part." She joked weakly as she tried to recover from the shock of pain. Sokka went over to help Katara move her so that Katara can wrap her shoulder.

Aang looked pained. "I shouldn't have let you go and fight Tyrn. You weren't ready." he stated as he looked at her pained face.

The girl shook her head, flinching when Katara put some medicine on her wound. "It wasn't your fault Aang, you told me to stay in the first place."

"But—"

"I'm fine." She assured him, sad to see him guilty but happy to know that he cared.

Sokka's voice cut into their conversation. "Hey guys?" They turned to look at him. "How am I supposed to get this Kyoshi uniform off?" he said while tugging at the heavy armor. Tyrn, Aang and Katara looked at each other with a grin. Tyrn lay back as Aang and Katara tried to relieve Sokka of his heavy load. _Serves him right for being a jerk earlier. _Tyrn thought happily as she tried to fall asleep, thinking about how the day had turned out. As she was about to fall asleep a sudden thought crossed her mind.

_Aang did look cute when he went koi surfing._

She quickly sat up, getting the attention of the others with her. "Are you alright, Tyrn?" Katara and Aang looked at her in concern.

"Oh, uh, heheh, y-yeah I'm f-fine." Tyrn stuttered, waving them away with her hand. She went back down, almost certain that her face was a light red. _Are you serious? How could I think Aang was cute? We all know what happened in the series, Aang and Katara got together at the end… _Her head was still whirling as her vision faded to black.

_Could I really be starting to have a crush on the star of one of my favorite TV shows?_

* * *

**Haha, soooo many AangxTyrn moments in this chapter. I feel evil xD Now that Tyrn's acknowledged she *might* like Aang, this is going to be a very awkward few chapters...**

**Review! Until then, Ciao!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you, thank you, thank you! I feel so happy, seeing that people are reading my story! And thank you to fanfictionweirdo for being the very first reviewer and person to put this story on alert! You get a free virtual cookie! :)**

**In this chapter, Tyrn and the Gaang go to Omashu. I didn't exactly love love love this chapter, but I think it's pretty good so far. Hope you enjoy it!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"Here it is: the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" Aang proudly proclaimed as he gestured to the large society that lay ahead. "I used to always come here to visit my friend Bumi."

Tyrn giggled at the mention of Aang's slightly loopy friend. "It reminds me of the Air Temples." Tyrn remarked, gazing at Omashu.

Sokka and Katara just stared at the behemoth city. "Wow!" Katara's eyes grew wide.

"They have buildings here, that don't melt!" Sokka said, amazed at the fact.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Where I come from, we don't worry about your roof melting into a slushie overnight." she joked, walking ahead of Sokka.

Sokka and Katara looked at Tyrn curiously. "You know," Katara began, "You've never really told us about your world, besides the lack of bending."

"Or how you know us, or our world!" Sokka added in.

Tyrn was about to reply when Aang cut in. "Hey, let's hurry and get inside the city. That's where the real fun begins!" He happily leaped down the hill when Katara yelled after him.

"Wait, Aang!" he turned around. "It might be dangerous to let people know you're the Avatar."

Sokka rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, you need a disguise. You too, Tyrn." Sokka turned to the girl airbender.

Tyrn smirked as she shook her head. "I don't think a disguise will work unless Aang and I lose the airbender look for something else." She remarked.

Aang simply shrugged. "What am I supposed to do, grow a mustache?"

Moments later, Tyrn tugged at her blue outfit. "Ugh, I hate wearing skirts."

Katara turned to look at her. "You look great! Why are you complaining?" Tyrn was now sporting an outfit that used to be Katara's, complete with her hair in a braid. "You look like a true Water Tribe citizen."

"BeCAUSE, I don't like SKIRTS! And don't say anything about my airbender outfit, since that had pants underneath." Tyrn seethed, stomping away to undo her braid. "I hate braids, too."

"You're telling me!" Tyrn stopped her fiddling to see a very uncomfortable Aang in a wig and mustache disguise. "How do you live in this stuff?" Aang turned to Appa, who merely blew a wind in his face.

"Come on Aang, you look just like my grandfather. And Tyrn looks like a distant cousin." Sokka said, looking them over.

"Well, it's true that Aang is over 100 years old." Katara said to Sokka.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Emphasis on distant, Sokka. I look NOTHING like you guys!" It was true, while Katara and Sokka had deep tan skin, brown hair and blue eyes, Tyrn's black hair, light tan skin and chocolate brown eyes didn't look like traditional Water Tribe features.

Aang twirled his staff and bent over like an old man. "Let's get with it you young whippersnappers! The big city awaits!"

Tyrn smirked. "Age before beauty on this one."

Aang playfully stuck out his tongue while Katara and Sokka laughed.

* * *

The wall split open, revealing the entrance to Omashu. The group walked in, and as they passed the gate Momo's ears popped out. Tyrn quickly shoved the lemur back down, hoping the guards didn't see. The Gaang looked in awe at the expansive city of Omashu.

Tyrn turned to Aang. "By the way, what kind of name is Bonzu Pippinpebblelotsokopolis?"

Aang grinned. "Well...I kinda heard you singing this song the other day…"

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "The Mary Poppin's song that sings of a word of joy and happiness?"

Aang shrugged, while Katara and Sokka looked at them in confusion. "Yeah…whatever you call it."

Tyrn giggled. "No wonder the name sounded familiar."

They heard the whoosh of the mail system pass by them. "The earthbenders bring the packages up, while gravity brings them down." Aang spoke like a tour guide as the rest of the Gaang looked at the chutes with amazement.

Sokka, however, looked unimpressed."So they get their mail on time. Big whoop."

Tyrn bonked him on the head. "Be creative, Sokka! Open your brain to the possibilities."

A wide grin and a look of nostalgia spread on Aang's face. "Exactly what my friend Bumi said! And if you're thinking what I'm thinking…" Aang and Tyrn smirked at each other.

* * *

They group had gotten out of their disguises and they now sat in the throne room. Under the cryptic gaze of the King of Omashu, the Gaang could only squirm as the guard announced their crimes. "Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested under the charges of vandalism, traveling under false pretenses and malicious destruction of cabbages."

"Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!" yelled the distressed cabbage man.

Tyrn flicked a wind at the weirdo. "Stick a cabbage in it, you're overreacting." She rolled her eyes as the cabbage man glared at her.

The King observed each of the members of their group. Sokka was just acting…Sokka, Katara looked like an innocent angel (where Tyrn almost laughed at her tactic) while Aang and Tyrn just looked guilty. Tyrn could almost swear there was a glimmer in the King's eye as he made his degree.

"Throw them…a feast." The whole room almost did an anime style fall when they heard what came out of the king's mouth.

They soon found themselves in front of a long table, filled with different kinds of food.

"The people from my city have gotten fat from too many feasts. I hope you like your chicken with no skin." The king picked up Aang and Tyrn's plate and offered it to them.

"Thanks, but I don't eat meat." Aang politely refused. Tyrn just shook her head, not wanting to trust the food.

"How about you? You look like you like to eat meat." With that, the King stuffed a chicken drumstick in Sokka's mouth, who started munching happily.

As the King went back to his seat, Katara nudged Tyrn's side. "Is it me, or is his crown a little crooked?" she asked, making the crazy sign.

Tyrn shrugged. "Maybe the feasts got to his head and messed it up or something." Both Katara and Tyrn giggled.

"So tell me young bald one and black haired one. Where are you two from?"

"Um…we're from…" Aang struggled to come up with an answer.

"Kangaroo Island!" Tyrn blurted out. Aang looked at her with a 'What the Heck' look on his face as she shrugged discreetly.

"Hmm…Kangaroo Island, eh? I bet that place is really hopping!" The king leaned forward slightly.

Tyrn restrained herself from face palming as Sokka laughed.

The King yawned and stretched. "These good jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay…" suddenly the King flung two drumsticks at Aang and Tyrn's directions. Both of them gasped in surprise as they caught the chicken with airbending.

The guards in the room gasped as the King stood up. "There are two airbenders in our presence, and the boy is the Avatar!"

Aang quickly dropped the leg and Sokka reached to snatch up Tyrn's chicken.

"Well, Mr. Pippinpebblelotsokopolis, how about a bright idea right about now?" hissed Tyrn as she kept staring at the old man.

* * *

The four of them now sat around in the "newly refurbished chamber that was once bad". Aang was quietly sat on his bed, thinking about his upcoming challenges, while Katara, Sokka and Tyrn were talking on the floor.

Sokka tapped Tyrn's shoulder. "Hey, Tyrn?" Tyrn turned to him. "Why don't you tell us about you and your world some more?"

Katara agreed. "Last time all we got to was your bag anyways."

Aang leaped from his bed and sat across from Sokka, while Tyrn got into a comfortable position. "Well, for starters, I live in my family with my parents and my brother." Tyrn rolled her eyes. "My brother Mitchell is so annoying. Kinda like you Sokka." Sokka pouted as Katara and Tyrn high-fived. "But he does have his moments. I have a dog, and her name is Mags."

"What's a dog?" Aang interjected.

Tyrn thought. "It's like…here." Tyrn dug out her sketchbook and showed them a picture of her dog. Aang, Katara and Sokka stared at the creature curiously.

"It looks like something I hunted in the South Pole." Sokka remarked, and Tyrn slapped him upside the head.

"You don't eat dogs! Well, in some cultures they do," Tyrn's face screwed up in disgust, "but we keep them as pets."

Tyrn set the book aside. "In my world, we're really far in technology." Tyrn smirked as she prepared to blow their minds. "We have steel and metal cities, taller than the Air temples!" The Gaang stared at her in wonder. "Trillions of people live in my world, all over in different nations! And…" she looked at Sokka when she said this. "There's REALLY good foods to try." Sokka drooled when she said this.

Tyrn continued to describe her world, and now reached the TV show part. "As for me knowing about you guys, there's this thing in our world called TV. It's like you can watch a story like you're seeing it happen, except we use technology to put the images up."

The Gaang nodded slowly. "And, that's how you know us, right? Then you know what happens then!" Katara exclaimed.

Sokka jumped up. "Yeah, you can give us pointers on how to defeat the Fire Lord!"

Tyrn shook her head. "I only know about you guys, and the people here. I don't know how you're going to defeat the Fire Lord." It was true; Tyrn had only started to watch the seasons after her cousin had showed it to her, and had only gotten to the end of the Ember Island Players.

Sokka slumped back down in disappointment. "Awww…"

"It's alright." Aang said. "We'll figure it out on our own anyways. It's not as fun when you know before you get there."

Katara looked at Tyrn, whose face suddenly held a look of loneliness. "Hey, you ok?"

Tyrn snapped out of it. "Oh yeah! It's just that…" Tyrn looked away when she said this. "I miss my family and friends. I've been so caught up in this world that I've almost forgotten my old life." Tyrn looked guilty as she said this.

Katara reached over and hugged her. "Don't worry, if we could find a way to bring you back then we will. Okay?" Aang and Sokka looked at Tyrn with sympathy.

Tyrn nodded. "Alright." Katara didn't seem to like her answer, but accepted it anyways.

"Well, we better get some rest. Aang, you have a big day tomorrow." Katara said in a motherly tone as she got up. The rest of the group nodded as they got up and went to their beds.

Tyrn yawned as she laid down on her bed. _I hope everyone's alright back at home. Mitchell can't use a microwave without me there! _With that amusing thought, Tyrn fell asleep.

* * *

The four of them stood there as they were given their final challenge. Aang was still panting from the fight he had with the King, while Katara, Sokka and Tyrn were slowly being encased in crystals.

"His name? After all of the back breaking challenges he gave me, the one to set you guys free is what his stinking name is?" Aang stamped his staff into the ground.

"Well, you heard the crazy coot; we need to 'learn' something." Katara shrugged, as much as she could when being slowly encased in crystal.

You could literally see the light bulb above Sokka's head when he blurted out. "Hey I got it!"

"Oh boy…" Tyrn groaned as Katara and Aang turned to him.

"He's an earthbender right? Rocky!" Silence greeted the group as they started with incredulity at the warrior.

_He might have the strength of Rocky Balboa, but that still is a REALLY stupid guess. _Tyrn thought sarcastically. "We're going to keep going, but that will be our last resort." Sokka grumbled in his corner.

"Ok, back to the challenges. I got a key from a waterfall, I saved his pet, and I had a duel." Aang pondered.

"And?" Katara said, staring in horror as the crystal grew more.

Tyrn spoke slowly, trying to remember the episode. "You had to think differently than you normally would." She turned to Aang, trying not to fall over in the process. "Know anyone like that?" she said, smiling.

Aang's face suddenly lit up. "I know his name!"

The group went back inside to confront the King. Aang began, "I solved your question the same way I did with your challenges. And," he glanced at Tyrn, "with a little help." Tyrn smiled. _Wait for it… _"As you said a long time ago," Aang turned back to the now crackling king. "I had to open up my brain to the possibilities." Aang ran forward and hugged his old friend. "Bumi, you're a mad genius!"

Bumi finally stopped laughing and spoke. "Ah, Aang. It's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally!"

The rest of the group walked forward. "Uh, a little help old man?" Sokka yelled from inside his prison.

"Who are you calling old? …Ok, I'm old." with that said, Bumi earthbended them out of their prisons. He picked up one of the fallen geminite. "Geminite is made of rock candy!" He happily bit into the crystal.

Katara spoke up. "Why didn't you just tell Aang who you were?"

Bumi crackled. "It's pretty fun messing with people, but I have a reason." He turned to Aang. "Aang, the world has changed in the years you've been gone. You need to master the other elements to defeat the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you think like a mad genius!"

Aang bowed to his friend. "Thank you for your wisdom."

Bumi looked over to his friends. "You seem to be in pretty good hands. You need your friends to defeat the Fire Lord." Momo leaped around Aang's head. "You'll need Momo too!"

There was a growing grin on Aang's face when he got a brilliant idea. "Before we go, however, I got a challenge for YOU."

* * *

Laughing their heads off, Bumi and Aang stepped out of the now cabbage covered mail cart, walking away from the man whose produce has been wrecked three times that day.

"Ha-ha! That was the most fun I've ever had so far!" Bumi said with glee as Aang finished off his laughing with a happy sigh. "By the way, Aang, I have a question for you."

Aang turned to Bumi. "What is it?"

"Who is the black haired girl that you're traveling with?"

Aang stepped back, surprised by his friend's forwardness. "Well, Tyrn just showed up on an island where we were camping one day. And…" Aang hesitated to tell his old friend about Tyrn's history, but continued anyways. "…she says she's from another world."

Bumi just raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. She seems to be a lively young lady, however, so I wouldn't doubt her trust. And she is an airbender like you?" Aang nodded. "Well, don't worry. I won't tell anyone about your young lady friend."

Aang slightly blushed when Bumi put his friend that way, thinking of another female in the group. "Y-yeah, she's really nice…"

If it was even possible, Bumi's eyebrow rose even higher. "What's this? Has my old buddy taken a fancy to his companion?"

Aang went even redder. "No, no, not Tyrn! She's just my best friend."

Bumi grinned in Aang's face. "Ooh, so another lady? The very nice Katara waterbender? But Tyrn seems so promising… you being Avatar, you can get both of them and every other lady in the world, huh?" Bumi nudged Aang in his side.

"Uh, the others are waiting for me! Gotta go Bumi!" He quickly hugged his friend before speeding off.

Bumi just chuckled. _He'll get it in time. He doesn't need a master of the ladies like me to help him! _Bumi turned back and went into his palace.

Aang slowed down as he approached Appa's saddle. "How could he think that I think of Tyrn like that? She's just a friend! Katara's so pretty and graceful!" Aang said with a dreamy look on his face.

_Tyrn's pretty graceful, and you know it since you saw her dancing. And don't deny she isn't pretty!_

"But, Katara's been there for me when I was down…"

_But so was Tyrn. Remember the Southern Air Temple?_

"I don't have a crush on Tyrn! Just Katara!"

_Ooook, but I'm not so sure about that!_

"Argh, I'm arguing with myself over my two best friends? Really?"

_And you're losing._

"You know what? Shut up." Aang told his conscience as he went to Appa's head.

Tyrn looked at him with a funny look on her face. "Tell who to shut up?"

Aang just shook his head. "Nothing."

Tyrn shrugged, and continued drawing in her sketchbook. Katara looked over. "Hey Tyrn, what are you drawing?" Tyrn looked up and smiled. Turning back to her drawing, she put on the finishing touches before showing Katara. It was a picture of a pissed off Sokka with Momo eating a peach on his head.

Katara giggled. "That's actually really good! How did you get Sokka and Momo to sit still?"

Tyrn shook her head. "I didn't," Katara looked at her puzzled. "Sokka always looks like that when it comes to Momo stealing his food." Both girls collapsed in a fit of giggles.

Aang smiled at the females in the group. _They're just really good friends. I'm lucky to have them with me._ His gaze rested on the waterbender. _Maybe one is a little bit more…_

Sokka's indignant yell echoed as they flew off. "HEY, SINCE WHEN DO I LOOK LIKE A SLOTH MONKEY WITH A DIGESTIVE PROBLEM?"

* * *

**It is way too easy to pick on Sokka at this point. xD Heheh, looks like Bumi knows more about Aang's relationship troubles than Aang himself! Aang still seems to want to impress Katara however...**

**It's going to be drama in the next chapter, where the Gaang reaches the Imprisoned episode! **

**Until next time, Ciao!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you SO much for clicking on my story! It really made my day to see so many people reading my story :) Also thanks to Kiri for trying to help with my writing, I really do appreciate it. :)**

**In this chapter, Tyrn and the Gaang are helping Haru with the Fire Nation, who captured his father a couple years back. Katara and Haru hit it off, and Aang's starting to worry. Tyrn is also dealing with her feelings as they go through the episode. This took me some time to get it right, so I hope you enjoy it!**

**I do not own A:TLA, or Give Love a Try by Nick Jonas, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"Ok, so just focus on making a wall with your arms, and then blow them out with airbending!" Aang tutored, moving Tyrn's hands into the right position. The Gaang had just settled into a nice clearing in a forest, and while Sokka was out getting food, the three benders decided to work on their talents.

Tyrn tried to hide her blushing face as Aang stepped around her to check her stance. "Y-yeah, I think I got it."

Aang smiled, taking her red face for exhaustion. "I promise, once you've gotten this move down we can take a break."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Not all of us have the endurance of an Avatar, Sifu Aang." Her stance slightly sagged as she said this.

Aang smirked, knowing how to get her going again. "You're right. Girls do have less endurance than boys. Maybe I should take it easy on you this time…" he trailed off, looking at Tyrn's face.

Tyrn's eyes immediately sparked. "You watch who you're calling a girl, airhead."

Aang just chuckled, and got in a neutral stance. "You ready?"

Checking her arms, Tyrn braced herself and nodded. Aang quickly airbended his staff over and started sending quick bursts of wind towards his pupil. Tyrn blew out an air shield with her arms and struggled to hold it up as each attack was deflected on her shield. Small beads of sweat rolled her face as she was slowly being pushed back.

After what seemed like hours, Aang stopped his assault and straightened up. "Congratulations, you've mastered the air shield!" he declared, a smile breaking out on his face.

Tyrn dropped her shield and fell to the ground. She punched her fist in her air. "Yes! Finally…"

Katara started clapping as she followed Aang to where Tyrn laid all tired out. "See, told you that you could do it!"

Tyrn looked at Katara with a smirk. "Yeah, but it's kinda hard to believe you when 15 times of air wailing on you makes you start to doubt."

She sat up, and Aang held out his hand. "Well, come on. I think I hear Sokka coming back with our food."

Tyrn grabbed his hand and stood up, brushing any dirt from her clothing. Sokka walked into the clearing. "Great, let's eat!" Tyrn leaped over to where Sokka knelt down, while Aang and Katara followed.

Sokka reached into the bag. "We got a few options for lunch, here." He pulled out a couple nuts. "We have some round nuts, a few oval shaped nuts, and a couple rock shaped nuts, that could be just rocks." He tossed the rock over his shoulder, where Momo proceeded to bite into it, with no success.

Katara, Aang and Tyrn looked each other skeptically. "Seriously, what else you got?" Katara asked, eying the few nuts on the floor.

A sudden bang rang out across the clearing. "What was that?" cried Sokka.

Aang turned towards the sound. "It's coming from over there!" Katara and Tyrn followed after the young avatar as Sokka cried out behind them. "Shouldn't we be running away from huge booms, not towards them?"

Sokka caught up to the three, who were huddling against a fallen tree. Ahead of them was an earthbender, who was smashing rocks into the side of the ravine.

"An earthbender!" Katara watched in awe.

"Let's go and meet him!" Aang cried out, a happy smile on his face.

Sokka spoke up. "This guy might be dangerous; we better approach cautiously."

Tyrn tapped Sokka's shoulder. "Or just go for a straightforward 'hi'." She pointed at Katara, who had run out in front of them.

"Hi! I'm Katara! What's your name?" Tyrn and Sokka both slapped their foreheads when the young man fled; bring down rocks to keep them from following.

"Nice to meet you!" Aang called out the now gone earthbender as the rest of the group caught up to Katara. "Hey, I bet where that guy came from is a village…"

"And if there's a village there's a market!" Katara said, her eyes widening.

Tyrn happily made an air ball (which she had just mastered a couple days ago) and sped in the direction where the guy went. "Yes! No nuts for dinner!" Katara and Aang laughed as they tailed behind her, Sokka complaining.

"Hey, I worked hard to get those nuts!"

"Which is surprising, since the effort didn't show in the result!" Tyrn yelled back. All three of them laughed as Sokka pouted.

The Gaang headed into the village. Aang spotted a hat that an old guy was holding. "Hey, I'll trade you some nuts for that hat!" Aang held out his hand with the bag of nuts Sokka had gathered.

Tyrn smirked at Sokka. "See that? Why eat them when we could get sun protection?"

Sokka just glared at her. "At least I actually worked! You just dance around the campsite with your stupid iPod. 'Look at me; I dance around like a hog monkey!'" Sokka imitated Tyrn's earlier activity.

Tyrn glared back. "It wasn't dancing! I was practicing my fighting to music! And a hog monkey is smarter than your brain will ever be!"

"Well I think it's stupid!"

"You're stupid!"

"Your hair is stupid!"

"Says the guy with a man ponytail!"

"GUYS!" Tyrn and Sokka turned Aang from their argument. "Can't you guys just get along? Come on; let's follow Katara into that shop." With that, Aang grabbed Sokka and Tyrn's wrists and walked to where Katara entered a little store, Sokka and Tyrn making faces at each other along the way.

"Hey, you're the guy we saw earthbending!" Aang exclaimed as they all saw the guy from before.

The guy's mother gasped, and quickly closed the door and windows. She turned to her son. "They saw you doing what?"

"They're crazy mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed!" the teen retorted, gesturing to the Gaang's clothing.

"Hey!" Katara and Tyrn protested, everyone looking at their clothing.

"You know how dangerous it is! Haru, you know what would happen if they knew you could earthbend!" Haru's mom continued.

Someone banged on the shop's door. "Open up!"

Sokka peeked out the window. "Fire Nation! Act natural!" he whisper-yelled, and everyone scrambled around the room.

Haru's mother opened the door. The Fire Nation general walked in, surveying the scene. Katara was halfway eating some cherries, while Haru and Sokka looked like they were inspecting an apple. Aang leaned on a barrel that Tyrn was hiding behind, when Aang's hand slipped and he stumbled into the barrel. Tyrn held back a snicker.

Haru's mother spoke to the general. "What do you want?" she demanded. "I've already paid you this week."

"Tax has just doubled." The general replied. "You don't want an accident, do you?" the general made a small ember in his hands.

The group stepped back as the general continued. "Fire… sometimes is so hard to control."

Haru's mother glared, and then tiredly presented him with some money.

"You can keep the copper ones." The general said with a smirk as he dropped the copper coins onto the floor, and turned to leave.

Tyrn picked up the copper coins and handed them to Haru's mother as the door slammed shut. "Nice guy…" she said sarcastically. "How long have they been here?"

"5 years." Haru's mother replied. "Fire Lord Ozai uses our coal mines to power his ships."

"They're bullies." Everyone turned to Haru. "They steal from us, and everyone's too much of a coward to do anything."

His mother scolded him. "Quiet! You know better than to talk like that."

Aang spoke up. "But, Haru's an earthbender. He could help!"

"Earthbending is forbidden here! He must never let anyone know of his talent. It has done nothing but curse this village." Haru's mother shook her head.

"How could you say that?" Katara stepped forward. "Bending is a gift. A part of who we are. What can the Fire Nation do that they haven't done already?"

"They can take him away." Everyone's eyes widened. "Like they did to his father." An aura of gloom settled in the store.

* * *

Aang stared at the entrance of the small barn where they were staying. Katara and Haru just left, and Sokka had gone into the market to get some food. Tyrn looked up to find Aang's expression.

"Hey Aang, are you alright?"

Aang turned to look at Tyrn, who was listening to her iPod. "Yeah…I'm fine." He got up to walk over to where Tyrn was sitting, and got down next to her.

Tyrn took out her ear buds and turned to the young airbender next to her. "Ok, spill."

Aang looked at her, puzzled. "What?"

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "I know you're lying. What's bothering you?"

The young monk sighed, and started to talk. "Well…there's this girl," Tyrn raised an eyebrow, "and I don't think she's noticing me. She's been hanging out with Har—I mean another guy. Should I just give up?"

Tyrn shook her head. "If you really want to get her to notice, don't stop. Try every chance you got. You really don't want to know what would've happen if you didn't."

Aang still looked unsure. "But, what if she just laughs at me? What if the whole world laughs at me for not being able to get a girl? What if-"at this point Tyrn clapped her hand over Aang's rambling mouth.

Tyrn just looked at Aang, and spoke quietly. "Just take the risk. She's probably not going to laugh at you; you and I both know that. And no one else is going to laugh at you, even if you're the Avatar. You're still human. Besides," and Tyrn showed a tiny smile, "they probably know better than to ridicule someone who can kick their butt in 3 seconds."

Tyrn removed her hand from Aang's mouth, and Aang gave her a tiny smile.

Sighing, Tyrn got her iPod and put the volume on high. Pressing the button, she sat back and tapped her hands against her thigh. Glancing at Aang, she started to sing with the music:

_You, you like driving on a Sunday_

_You, you like taking off on Monday_

_You, you're like a dream, a dream come true_

_I'm, just a face you'll never notice,_

_Now, I'm just trying to be honest with myself_

_With you, with the world_

_You might think that I'm a fool_

_For falling over you_

_So tell me what can I do to prove to you_

_That it's not so hard to do_

_Give love a try one more time_

'_Cause you know that I'm on your side_

_Give love a try, one more time_

Tyrn shut off her iPod, and both she and Aang were silent as Tyrn slowly got up. Walking out of the barn, she stopped to look back at Aang.

"You know, I think Katara's pretty lucky to have you." Seeing the shock on Aang's face, she winked as she turned and ran down the hill to meet Haru and Katara.

Aang sat back, still in shock about how Tyrn knew about his crush on Katara. He remembered her words, however, and smiled. "Give love a try, huh?"

* * *

"It was just amazing how Haru saved that old man." Katara finished off her tale as the Gaang got comfortable around the fire.

Tyrn looked at Aang, who looked slightly jealous of Katara's admiration of Haru's bravery. Aang glanced at Tyrn, who just winked at Aang.

Aang smiled, and then turned to Katara. "You must have really inspired him!" _Like how you inspired me. _He thought.

"Everyone should get some sleep." Sokka got comfortable on his hay bale. "We're leaving at dawn."

"Can't we sleep in?" "Are you serious?" "You're insane!" the collective protests of the group rang out as Sokka turned over.

"Hey, this village is crawling with Fire Nation soldiers, and if they discovered you're here, Aang," he looked at Aang as he said this, "We'll be eating fire balls for breakfast."

"Anything's better than nuts." Tyrn muttered. Katara and Aang snickered.

"Good NIGHT."

Tyrn woke up to a frantic Katara, who was busy talking to Aang and Sokka. "What's going on?" she sleepily said.

"It's Haru; they took him away for earthbending." Sokka said, while Katara looked determined.

"I'm going to follow him," said Katara, "when you guys set out the plan."

"Ok, so when you guys give the signal, we blow into the mine shaft?" Katara and Sokka were standing next to a boulder placed over a second shaft as Tyrn and Aang got behind the first one. Katara nodded.

Tyrn turned to Aang, who was lazily blowing at a butterfly. "Aang, are you even paying attention?

Aang waved away her concern. "Yeah, yeah! You're taking all the fun out of this. Just relax."

Looking over at Sokka and Katara, she winked as she knelt down next to Aang. "You mean the fact that we're literally handing your_ love_ over to ruthless firebenders? That's fun?" she whispered into his ear.

Aang snapped out of it, finally realizing what Tyrn said. Blushing slightly, he popped up and glared at her. Tyrn just laughed.

Sokka suddenly shouted. "Hey look, here they come!" Tyrn and Aang quickly dove behind the rock.

Aang nudged Tyrn. "Did you REALLY have to put it that way?"

Tyrn shrugged. "Hey, your loss for not paying attention. Just listen to the signal!"

"EARTHBENDING STYLE!" Katara's voice rang over to where they were sitting.

"Now!" Tyrn whispered, and both airbenders blew a huge gust of wind into the vent, causing the rock to float…over Momo.

"That lemur…he's earthbending!" The guard said, astonished. Tyrn slapped her forehead.

"No you idiots, it's the girl!" Sokka pointed to his sister.

"Oh…right." The guard replied, taking Katara and leading her to the ship. Katara glanced back at the three behind her, and disappeared from sight.

Tyrn turned to Momo. "An earthbending lemur? Why didn't you stay with me and Aang?" Momo lowered his ears.

Sokka started to head towards barn. "Come on, we need to follow them!"

The three got to the barn and climbed onto Appa. Tyrn turned to Haru's mother. "Don't worry," she assured her, "We'll get back your son." With that, the Gaang flew into the sky and towards the ship.

Flying over the ship, Sokka looked towards Aang, who was staring worriedly at where Katara was being held captive. "Katara knows what she's doing. She'll be fine, Aang."

Tyrn knew that Aang was also worrying about Haru and Katara on the boat together, but stayed silent. She realized that even with her crush on Aang that Katara and Aang will get together by the end of the series. Heck, that was the moment that she and every other fan was looking forward to when she was watching the series! _But this is different. I'm in the series now, this changes things. _Sighing in confusion, Tyrn looked up from her musings when Appa flew towards the side of the rig. Aang stopped Appa under the edge and flew up to get Katara. He jumped back on Appa a few seconds later as Katara lingered at the fence.

"What are you doing? Where's Haru?" Sokka whispered, reaching his hand out to Katara.

"I can't…I can't leave yet." Katara whispered back.

Sokka and Aang looked at each other. "Katara, what's wrong?" Aang asked.

"You want to help them." Everyone turned to Tyrn. "You don't want to abandon the other earthbenders here."

Sokka, Aang and Tyrn got up to the ledge where Katara knelt down. "Are you crazy?" Sokka whispered-yelled and everyone ducked as the spotlight flashed over them.

"I can't give up on these people. There has to be a way to help them!" Katara retorted.

Aang agreed with Katara. "I think she's right." He turned to Sokka. "What do you say, Sokka?"

"I say that you all are losing your minds!" He said back. "Last chance, we need to leave now!"

"NO." Both Tyrn and Katara said in response.

Sokka shook his head. "I hate it when you're like this." He looked up at the spotlights. "Come on, we better hide."

"What's the game plan?" Tyrn asked, as the group huddled around behind some crates.

"I wish I could make a hurricane…" Katara and Sokka looked at Aang with an 'are you serious?' look on their faces, while Tyrn shook her head. "We could scare the warden away and take his keys!"

"Wouldn't he just take the keys with him?" Sokka asked.

Aang shrugged. "I'm just tossing ideas out there."

Katara looked down. "I tried to talk the earthbenders into fighting, but they just didn't listen. They need something to help them help themselves."

Sokka gestured with his hands. "They need some type of earth, or rock…something that they can bend."

Aang looked up at the smoke overhead. "I think I found it! They must be burning coal to fuel the ships. In other words…"

Tyrn looked up as well. "…earth!"

Katara reached over and hugged Aang. "Aang, you're a genius!" Aang was grateful that the dark shielded his reddening face from the others. But he didn't see Tyrn's sad smile as she watched the outline of Katara hugging Aang.

* * *

"Are you sure that this is going to work? It's almost dawn!" Katara asked Sokka as the two kneeled behind the vent.

Sokka nodded. "It's just like our little trick from before, only on a much bigger scale. When Aang and Tyrn seal off all the vents except ours, the coal will have no choice but to come out here when they use their airbending."

Down below, Aang and Tyrn finished closing the last of the vents needed. "You ready to blast some earth up there?" Aang asked Tyrn.

Tyrn took in a deep breath and nodded. Both of them started to move their hands in a circle, airbending an air vacuum that started sucking the coal up into the only open vent. They quickly followed the moving coal as it reached the surface, and sprang up the opening to find Katara and Sokka surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers. Landing on the coal pile, Tyrn and Aang coughed out the extra coal dust as Katara ran over to them.

"You guys ok?" Katara whispered to them as they slowly got up.

Tyrn let out a final cough and nodded. "Now I know what an old-style train feels like…"

Katara turned to the earthbenders. "Everyone! Here is your chance to fight back! Take it, your fate is in your hands!"

The warden laughed when no one made a move. "Silly little girl. You really thought a few inspirational words could actually move them?" Tyrn caught Haru's eye and slightly nodded. He nodded back as he sneakily took some of the coal. "Look at their hopeless faces. They lost their will to fight a long time ago. And you thought you could bring back their hope? How…sweet. They are a waste of your energy. You failed."

The warden turned to leave, when he was struck in the back of his head with a chunk of coal. Furiously turning around, he found himself looking at Haru, who was twirling some rocks in his hand. He let out a cry as he firebended at the young man. Haru was suddenly protected from the blast as everyone turned to Haru's father, who had earthbended up a shield.

The warden's eyes flashed. "Show no mercy!" he yelled as he and the other guards attacked the earthbenders.

The prisoners quickly bended a large shield to protect them. "For the Earth Kingdom!" Haru's father yelled as they flung the coal from the shield at the Fire Nation soldiers. Everyone immediately started to fight back, coal and fire flying in all directions. Aang and Tyrn quickly zipped around the Fire Nation soldiers and broke their spears, throwing the ends up to Momo, who was catching them in his feet.

Tyrn smiled up at the little lemur. "Thanks, Momo!" The lemur chattered as he flew away to dump the spears in the sea.

A sudden crash rang out across the rig as the group turned to a hole in the wall, courtesy of Haru and his father. "Get to the ship!" the old man yelled. "We'll hold them off!" Everyone started running through the hole.

"Don't let them escape!" the warden bellowed, throwing a fire blast at the Gaang. Tyrn started bending a small air cannon at the Fire Nation soldiers. Aang copied her movement.

"Guys, get us some coal!" Tyrn yelled at Katara and Sokka. The brother and sister gathered up some coal and started loading them through Aang and Katara's cannons. Sokka dumped in a giant clump and Tyrn slightly stumbled as the huge load flew through the cannon and at the Fire Nation soldiers. She let out a triumphant whoop as the warden and his guards fell to the ground, coal bouncing off their armor. "Ha-ha, eat dirt, losers!"

"How about a dip, instead!" Haru's father came up beside the Gaang, and quickly bended a coal platform under the Fire Nation soldiers, lifting them over the edge of the rig.

"No please! I can't swim!" the warden pleaded as the earthbenders held them over the water.

"Don't worry, I hear cowards float." On that note, the earthbenders dropped their arms, sending the warden and his guards to the fate with a large splash.

The gaang soon found themselves floating alongside the stolen Fire Nation ships on Appa. Katara was talking to Haru and his father. "Everyone, including me and my family, owe you much, Katara of the Water Tribe." Haru's father thanked Katara again.

"All it took was a little coal." Katara blushed slightly at the praise. "So I guess you'll be heading home."

"Yes, to take back my village." Haru shouted to the other ships. "To take back all of our villages!" the others cheered as Haru's father continued. "The Fire Nation will regret stepping foot on our land!"

Haru turned to Katara. "Come with us."

Katara shook her head. "Your mission is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole."

Both of them looked over to Aang, who was playing with Momo. "He's the avatar, isn't he?" Katara nodded, admiration in her eyes as she chuckled quietly when Momo missed the rock Aang was floating around. "I wish…there was some way to repay you." Haru looked at Katara with hope in his eyes.

Tyrn came up behind Haru. "Hey, we have to get moving."

Katara nodded, and then turned back to Haru. "I'll…see you later, I guess."

Haru stepped forward and gave Katara a quick hug. "I'll miss you, have a safe journey." With that, Haru stepped away from Katara, waved at Tyrn, and then ran below deck to find his father.

Tyrn smirked at Katara's reddening cheeks. "Someone has a boyfriend!" Tyrn sang.

Katara shook her head rapidly. "No I don't!" she blurted out, her face reddening even further.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Oh please. 'I'll miss you, Katara!' I was right here when he said that!"

Katara shushed a still singing Tyrn. "Will you be quiet! I don't have a crush on Haru!"

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "Okay, whatever you say, Katara. Come on, Sokka and Aang are waiting for us." She grabbed Katara's wrist and flew over the side of the ship, landing on Appa's saddle.

"What took you guys so long?" Sokka complained as they flew off towards the North Pole once again.

Tyrn waved him away with her hand. "Nothing, just…"she glanced at Katara when she said this,"…_girl _talk. And I meant actual girls, so that doesn't include you, Sokka." Katara and Aang laughed at this. Tyrn laughed along with them, but glanced at Aang. _I hope he didn't see what happened on the ship. _From the looks of things, however, it seemed like Aang hadn't.

"By the way…" Aang began, turning to Tyrn, "nice bending back there! I've never seen the air cannon like that before." Aang leaped over to where Tyrn sat.

Tyrn beamed. "You really think so?"

Aang nodded. "With a little bit more training, you can become an airbending master in no time!"

Her eyes sparkled as Tyrn punched the air. "Yes! Master's title, here I come!"

Katara smiled at Tyrn's excitement, involuntarily reaching up to feel her mother's necklace. Her eyes suddenly widened. "My mother's necklace! It's gone!"

Sokka, Tyrn and Aang gasped as Katara looked frantically around the saddle. "It must've fallen off when we fought on the rig!"

Sokka went over to comfort his distraught sister. "I'm sure we just misplaced it somewhere. Don't worry."

Katara leaned into her brother, still upset. Aang went over to comfort Katara as well.

Quietly debating her mind, Tyrn glanced at Katara, her face in her hands. She quietly spoke up. "Katara…" Katara look at her. "It's going to be ok, trust me." Tyrn gave her a tiny smile, and tapped her head. "I know it."

Katara gave her a small smile, as they continued their quest to the North Pole.

_At least I hope so._

**

* * *

**

Awwww, poor Tyrn. This chapter has just been a whirlwind of emotions, hasn't it. Sorry about the Jonas song, I just thought it really fit into the situation. Wait a minute, it's my story... so I'll take that back. Deal with it ;)

**Next chapter I'm going to skip maybe one or two episodes, so you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out where our heroes are! **

**Until then, Ciao!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The wait is offically over, the next chapter is here! I'm grateful for all the nice reviews and alerts you guys did with my story, and thank you to BlueStripedPolo who reviewed every chapter I've written so far! You're awesome :)**

**Chapter 6 is the Waterbending Scroll, where the Gaang experiences a lot of drama as the day goes on. Plus, we see how Tyrn's doing on her feelings and her bending! Read on ppl!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

_

* * *

_

_You know, I'm feeling like I'm watching a ping-pong match. _Tyrn thought sarcastically. Aang was pacing back and forward on Appa's saddle, while Katara and Tyrn followed him with their eyes. Sighing, Tyrn blew a quick wind at Aang's face, making him stop his movements. "In case you haven't noticed, Aang, standing up while Appa's flying is sort out an accident waiting to happen. Just still down and relax!"

Aang fell back with a groan. "It's what Avatar Roku told me." Aang cried out worriedly. "I'm supposed to master all four elements before the comet arrives!"

Sokka turned to the distressed airbender. "Well, it only took you like what, 112 years to master airbending, right? I'm sure you can get the others down no sweat!"

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Sokka, we all find your sense of humor _endearing, _but we don't have exactly…" she did the quick math in her head, "40,480 days for Aang to master all the elements."

"Not helping!" Sokka and Tyrn both said a quick apology to Aang, who was glaring at them from the floor.

Aang let out another groan. "I haven't even mastered waterbending yet, and we're still weeks away from the North Pole! What am I going to do?"

Katara reached out and pulled Aang into a sitting position. "Just relax. If you want, I can teach you the things I know about waterbending."

The young monk's eyes lit up. "You'd do that?"

Katara nodded. "Sure, let's just find a good source of water first." Both Aang and Katara leaned over the side of the saddle, looking at the land beneath them.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Great, more Kataang time as I watch with front row seats." She muttered under her breath. Tyrn may have swallowed her feelings and wanted what was best for them, but that didn't mean she was overjoyed about it.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can find a nice puddle for you to splash in." Sokka called over his shoulder.

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "Some puddle that is." The Gaang found themselves staring at a huge waterfall. Appa took a running leap into the lake, almost sweeping Momo off his feet in the following tidal wave.

"Wait for me buddy!" Aang stripped down from his (and Tyrn slightly blushed at this) top and pants and started to run in after him, when Katara interrupted him.

"You do remember why we came here in the first place, right?" Katara slightly scolded him.

Aang nervously chuckled, grabbing his pants. "Oops."

Sokka suddenly realized something. "So wait; I'm supposed to just sit over here and watch you guys practice bending the entire time?"

He was suddenly handed a branch. "You can clean the gunk out between Appa's toes!" Aang said brightly.

"So correction, you'll be sitting there AND cleaning Appa's toes while we practice our bending." Tyrn replied.

Sokka stared at the stick for a second, and then grabbed it. "Ok."

He climbed onto Appa and started brushing between his toes. Appa groaned in appreciation. "Yeah, yeah, you just enjoy it. You have to do me, next."

Tyrn shook her head as Katara and Aang got to into the position. "See, the trick is to get the wrist movement right, so don't be frustrated if you don't get it right away." Tyrn observed as Katara started to bend a small wave, mimicking the sea shore on a smaller scale.

"Hey, I'm bending it already!" Tyrn looked over at Aang with a smile as he made a slightly higher wave than Katara's.

"Wow, you got it so quickly! It took me nearly two months to get that…" Katara looked slightly jealous.

"Well, you had to learn it all on your own." Aang looked at her with admiration. "I just got a really good teacher."

Katara smiled at the praise. "Thanks. This next one is called 'Streaming the Water'." Katara bended a small stream around her and moved it around. Tyrn looked at the small stream with an idea brewing in her head. "Don't be frustrated if you don't get it the fir—"Katara stopped as Aang quickly streamed a small river of water up and around him, getting slowly faster as he got the hang of it. Katara looked annoyed as she let her water splash back down, Tyrn cringing at the loud slap of water. Aang finished off his stream, bending it back into the water with cool slip off the surface.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Ok, showoff, you didn't need the flair over the head at the end…"

Smiling sheepishly, Aang rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry…hey don't stop now! Keep them coming!"

Katara turned away slightly. "Well, I haven't even gotten this one down yet. Basically, you just make a big, powerful wave." She turned to the surface and raised her hands, raising a wall of water about a foot off the surface. Tyrn saw her hands start to shake, and finally Katara dropped the water, unsuccessful.

"You mean, like this?" Aang quickly raised his hands and a humongous wave came up and towered over Sokka. It crashed over Appa, sweeping away Sokka and their supplies. Tyrn swore she could see a vein pop out on Katara's forehead as she surveyed the damage.

"Looks like I got the hang of that move. What else you got?" Aang remarked, turning to Katara.

Katara held her annoyed expression on her face as she turned away. "I think that's enough practice for today."

"Yeah, you just 'practiced' our supplies up the river!" Tyrn scolded as they watched their food and medicine down the river.

"Oops, sorry about that." Aang apologized, rubbing the back of his head again.

"You know, you were a handful when you were just an airbender." Sokka said, slowly sinking back underwater.

* * *

"Ok, we have three copper pieces left from what King Bumi gave us, so let's use it wisely." Sokka told the Gaang as they stopped in the market.

"Uh…" Aang gave a guilty smile, "make that two copper pieces. I couldn't say no to this whistle!" He held up a bison shaped whistle, and blew into to it.

Sokka quickly covered his ears, and then realized the whistle made no noise. "It doesn't even work!" he complained, taking his hands off his ears.

Katara held out her hand. "I think I'll look after the money from now on." Aang handed over the two copper pieces with a sigh, and the group continued their way in the market.

Tyrn tapped Aang on the shoulder, and whispered into his ear. "I think it isn't worthless, it reminds me of a dog whistle back home."

Aang looked at her questioningly. "What does a dog whistle do?"

Tyrn shook her head. "You'll find out soon enough."

The Gaang walked near a ship, where a salesman was shouting out to the shoppers. "Earth Nation! Fire Nation! Water Nation! If bargains are your inclination, you're welcome here! Don't be shy, come to buy!" The man ran up to the group. "By the looks of your clothing I see you are travelers! Interested in some curios?"

Aang stopped and looked at the man. "Yeah sure...what are curios?"

"An inedible spoof off of Cheerios?" Tyrn muttered under her breath.

The salesman looked at Tyrn curiously, and then wrapped an arm around Aang's shoulders. "I'm not entirely sure! But we got them!" He led Aang to the ship, the others following him. They all looked around at the small interior of the ship. Tyrn and Aang looked at a small trinket box as Katara stared at an antique ruby monkey statue.

"That's a…fine specimen of lemur you got there." Tyrn and Aang turned to a doorway, where out stepped a man with a lizard parrot on his shoulder. _Hello, Captain Jack Sparrow's cousin! _Tyrn snickered, but quickly shut up when Aang and the pirate looked at her.

"Anyways, your lemur would fetch me a pretty price off the market, if you're willing to barter." The parrot on the pirate's shoulder squawked at the Gaang.

Momo hissed at the parrot as Aang grabbed him and held him protectively into his chest. "Momo's not for sale."

Tyrn turned to look at Katara, who was looking at a waterbending scroll. Tyrn's eyes widened as she glanced over Katara's shoulder. "The water whip…" Tyrn recognized one of the diagrams.

Katara looked at Tyrn. "Aren't these waterbending moves amazing?" She turned back to the diagrams in awe.

"Where did you get a waterbending scroll, mister?" Aang asked the pirate, walking over to where Katara stood.

The pirate grabbed the scroll and rolled it up, sliding it back into the cubby hole. "I got it for a reasonable price up north: free."

"Wait a minute…sea-faring traders, questionably acquired merchandise, and a reptilian parrot? You guys are pirates!" he pointed to the captain.

Tyrn shoved Sokka's shoulder. "And finally the snail gets on board the rest of the train!" Sokka glared at her, rubbing his shoulder.

The salesman wrapped an arm around Sokka's shoulder. "We prefer to say that we're...high risk traders!"

"How much for the scroll?" Tyrn asked the captain.

"I already have a buyer, but if you have 200 gold pieces on hand, I'll reconsider," the captain replied, staring at Tyrn's face skeptically.

Aang nudged Katara. "I can handle this. Pirates love to haggle!" she reluctantly handed over the two copper pieces over to Aang.

"Hey, mister?" Aang approached the counter as Katara and Tyrn backed away.

Tyrn turned to Katara, who was eyeing the scroll. "If you want to take it, you better do it fast!" she hissed, glancing at the laughing captain as Aang (hopelessly) tried to haggle. Katara glanced at Tyrn in surprise, she having read her mind, and quickly hid the scroll from sight. Tyrn walked up to Aang. "Aang, we need to get going. Come on!" she grabbed Aang as he bid goodbye the captain.

All four of them walked off the ship, Tyrn and Katara glancing uneasily behind them.

"What was that all about? I was about to browse their boomerang collection!" Sokka complained.

"I'll let you know as soon as we start running." Tyrn replied, cringing as she heard the sound of muffled yelling coming from the ship.

"What?"

"HEY, YOU KIDS GET BACK HERE!" The Gaang turned around as the pirates quickly jumped out from the ship and slowly started to head towards them.

"Ok, now we start running!" Tyrn screamed as they started to run away from the angry pirates. Rounding a corner, Katara quickly bended a patch of ice, causing a pirate to slip and crash into the wall. The group came up and knocked by a stand of cabbages, and once Tyrn passed it she sent an air blast into it, causing the cart to crash into the pirates on their tail. "Sorry!" she apologized to the once again distraught cabbage man as she ran to catch up with the others. _Destroyed cabbages attempt number...whatever! _She thought, smirking as she reached the others, who stopped as the pirates in front of them slowly approached.

"Who gets to feel the steel of my blade first?" the salesman from before said, moving his blades into position.

"No thanks!" Tyrn and Aang quickly threw an air blast, sending dust and rocks at the unprepared pirates. Aang opened his glider and started to take off. "Sokka, Katara! Jump on!" The Water Tribe siblings quickly grabbed onto the wings of the glider.

"Wait, what about Tyrn?" Katara yelled as they kicked over the pirates on their ascent.

"Tyrn! Air ball and jump!" Aang yelled out. Katara and Sokka looked behind them to find Tyrn running at top speed alongside them on the roof. Making a quick air ball, Tyrn jumps off the roof's edge and shortly hovers up to the glider. Her air ball quickly dissipates as she reaches out towards Aang's outstretched hand. Sokka and Katara both let out a sigh of relief as Tyrn grabbed Aang's hand, and moved to hang from Aang's waist as they flew off back to their camp.

* * *

The Gaang collapsed at their campsite in relief as they finally felt safe from the pirates. Sokka immediately got up to glared at Tyrn.

"Alright, you got some major explaining to do!" he furiously poked a finger at Tyrn's face, who shoved it away, looking annoyed. "Why did the pirates chase after us?"

"Because of this." Everyone looked at Katara to find her holding the waterbending scroll in her hand.

"Wow, no way!" Aang looked at Katara, amazed.

"No wonder they were trying to hack us up!" Sokka moved his annoyance from Tyrn to Katara. "You stole their waterbending scroll!"

Katara looked smug as she held the scroll. "I prefer to think of it as…high risk trading."

Tyrn walked up to Katara, a smirk on her face. "Wow girl. Never knew you could pull something like that off!" The two girls high-fived.

Aang chuckled. "Good one, guys."

Sokka refused to be put out. "You put all of our lives in danger so you could learn some fancy-schmancy splashes?"

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "You know how crucial it is for Katara and Aang to learn waterbending. You want to defeat the Fire Lord or not?"

"But—"

"What's done is done, Sokka. Stop being a wet blanket."

Sokka tried to find a point of argument, but gave up. He walked away grumbling. "Since when did I get a second sister?"

Katara opened the scroll and held it out to Aang. "I just want to learn this one trick and it's all yours. Hold it open for me." She stepped back as she observed the movements. "The single water whip. Looks doable." She turned to the water and started to lift the water in a shaky stream. But it backfired when it flew and struck her in the face. "Ow!"

Chuckles erupted from Sokka as Katara turned angrily at him. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry, but you deserved that." He chuckled. "You've been sold out, Aang. She only wanted to learn for herself."

"Aang will get his turn when I master this move!" Katara angrily moved through the stances again, only to smack Momo in his little furry butt. "Ugh, why can't I get this right?"

Aang walked over to the shore. "Don't worry, you'll get it!" He started to go through the movements. "You just got to shift your weight through the stances." Aang finished off, looking satisfied. "There you see?"

Tyrn tried to hold Katara back, but it was too late.

Katara snapped as she started to vent. "Would you just shut your air hole? Your unlimited source of wisdom really gets annoying sometimes! Why don't we just throw the scroll away since you're so NATURALLY GIFTED?"

She panted, and then glared at Sokka. "What?" Sokka turned away. Katara looked at Tyrn, who just shook her head and pointed at Aang. Katara's anger immediately dissipated as she caught Aang's trembling lip before he started to run into the forest. "Oh my god, Aang!" she called out before he disappeared.

"Oh my god, what have I done?" Katara sank to her knees, her head in her hands.

Tyrn knelt down beside her, looking at her sympathetically. "It's ok. I don't blame you for exploding after being so frustrated. I'll go talk to Aang. But," and she moved Katara to sit Indian style as she continued, "You need to start calming down. Here, do some breathing exercises while I'm gone. Breath in for 5 seconds, and out for 10."

Katara tried out her advice, and gave her a tiny smile. "Thank you so much, Tyrn."

Tyrn smiled back. "I'll be right back with Aang." She walked towards where Aang went as Momo went up and curled next to a meditating Katara.

Pushing away the underbrush, Tyrn looked ahead to find Aang sitting on a rock, facing away from her. She went and sat next to him as Aang glanced at her, before returning his gaze to the forest around him.

"You okay, Aang?" She laid a hand on his shoulder. Aang let out a shaky sigh before nodding mutely. Tyrn shook her head as she continued. "It's not your fault, Katara was just getting frustrated. She didn't mean to take it out on you."

Aang turned to her. "She didn't?"

Tyrn nodded. "She feels really bad that she yelled at you. I'm pretty sure she'll attack you with hugs and a dozen apologizes when you get back."

Aang blushed. "She doesn't have to do all that!"

Smiling, Tyrn continued. "She does care about your feelings, like you do with hers. And I'm pretty sure she feels pretty rotten right now."

Gently, Aang pulled Tyrn into a hug. "Thanks Tyrn. You're really the best friend I could ever have."

Tyrn's smile turned into a sad one as she slowly hugged back. "No problem." _You don't know how much of a problem that statement causes me. _Tyrn thought sadly. She stood up. "Lets go back, I have an idea on how to help Katara learn the water whip." Aang raised an eyebrow, but followed her anyways.

Tyrn called out to Katara as they reached camp. "Hey Katara!"

Katara sighed in relief as she spotted Aang and Tyrn approach. "Aang!" she quickly ran over to hug the young avatar. He started blushing madly as Tyrn winked at him and mouthed 'Told you'. Katara pulled back to start her stream of apologizes. "I'm so s—"

Aang cut her off. "It's okay, Katara. You don't have anything to apologize for."

Katara looked at him gratefully, then turned to Tyrn when she spoke up.

"You know, I just might I have a way to help you master your water whip."

Katara raise an eyebrow. "How's that?"

Tyrn shook her head. "I'm working on it, but I'll tell you tomorrow if I get it by then."

* * *

Opening her eyes, Tyrn sat up from the ground as she looked around. Everyone was asleep as she slowly got up and made her way to their supplies. Peeking in Aang's bag, she quickly grabbed the waterbending scroll as she made her way to the shore. Momo sat up and made a quiet chatter. Shushing the lemur, Tyrn continued her way to her spot away from the others. _Now, let's see if we can get this right…_ she thought to herself as she opened the scroll. Watching Katara's efforts before, Tyrn figured that she could transfer the moves to airbending, except moving faster to keep the air strong enough. By pushing the air back and forward, she can move Katara so that she involuntarily moves her weight through the stances, therefore helping her learn the water whip.

"Ok, so move your right foot this way, and your right hand sweeps over it…" Within a couple minutes, Tyrn had gotten a single wind moving around her, and she broke into an excited grin as she sped up her movements until it looked like a blur swirling around the young airbender. Dropping her hands with excitement, Tyrn did a little victory dance in place.

"Yes! Score one for me!" she suddenly bumped into a solid object behind her. Looking up, she found herself staring into the face of one the pirates from before. He quickly grabbed her wrists as she struggled.

"Ugh, do you guys ever quit? Get away from me!" Blowing the guy back, she started to run before being snatched by a familiar looking Prince.

"Going somewhere?" he questioned as Tyrn found herself staring at Zuko.

Tying her to a nearby tree, Tyrn tried to kick her captors as much as she could as they knotted her hands together. "Let me go, or I'll kick all your butts so hard you'll be spinning towards the moon!"

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or the Water Tribe duo." Zuko spoke calmly.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Do you really think I'll betray them like that? You'd have better chances asking your father to take you back!" she spat venomously.

Zuko's eyes flashed as he sprinted over and held a fire dagger near her throat. "Take that back, you wrench! How did you know about my past?"

Tyrn equally matched his fury as she blew him back, glaring at him. "It's for me to know, and for you to die trying to find out!"

The Fire Nation prince breathed angrily as he tried a different approach. "You must understand why I'm doing this then. I need my honor back. And in return, I can give you something your friend needs back."

Tyrn's eyes widened as she saw Zuko hold up Katara's necklace. "Where did you get that? Give it back!"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering. Tell me where he is, airbender!" Zuko demanded, pocketing the necklace.

The captain stepped forward. "Enough of this nonsense, where's our scroll?"

Zuko lit a small ember underneath the scroll as he held it up. "I wonder how much this is worth?" He smirked as he saw the crew's reactions. "A lot, apparently. Search the woods for the boy, and meet back here when you're done!"

* * *

_Ugh, where did I sleep to get this killer neck cramp? _Remembering last night's events, Tyrn suddenly awoke, looking at her surroundings. She was still tied to her tree, but three others have joined the clearing. Her eyes widened as she saw Aang, Katara and Sokka tugging at their binds.

"Nice work." Zuko remarked, surveying the struggling group.

"Guys!" Katara and Sokka looked at Tyrn, who was tied up at the tree. "I'm so sorry! It's my fault."

Aang shook his head. "No it wasn't."

An old man that Tyrn could only presume was Iroh spoke up next to her. "Actually it kind of is." Tyrn rolled her eyes.

"Enough of this, give me the boy!" Zuko demanded.

The captain refrained from handing Aang over. "Give us the scroll!"

Sokka decided to speak up. "You're really going to sell over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?" he said incredulously, looking up at the pirates. Tyrn smirked and started to prepare herself for what was about to happen.

The captain turned to Aang. "Your friend is the Avatar?"

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko yelled, but it was hopeless at this point.

"Yup, he is!" Sokka leaned over to Aang. "I bet he'll fetch a good price on the black market! Think of how much the Fire Lord will pay you if you turn him in! You'll be set FOR LIFE!"

Aang glared at Sokka. "You know, you're REALLY should shut up!"

"That hasn't stopped him before…" Tyrn muttered. Iroh looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"Keep your scroll. The Avatar is more precious than what the scroll can offer us." The captain said to Zuko, turning away to leave.

Zuko got into a fighting stance. "You'll regret breaking a deal with me!" He and his guards launched a fire ball at the pirates, who jumped back as the salesman **(A/n that just seems like his name to me!) **jumped and started to throw dust covers all around the clearing.

Tyrn strained to see any sign of the Gaang. "Uh, a little help over here?" she yelled, trying to get out of her bonds. The rope suddenly snapped as Tyrn looked behind here to find Momo cutting the rope with his teeth. Rubbing her wrists, Tyrn thanked the little lemur. "I know Katara promised you a bushel of apples in the series, but I don't think we can carry 42 pounds of extra weight. I'll get you a few peaches instead, alright?" Momo chattered in response as he flew off. Tyrn started to run, and quickly airbended over the fray of fighters. Running up to the Gaang, she helped try to push the massive ship into the water.

"It's no use! We need to get a team of rhinos to move this thing." Sokka complained.

Aang looked at the ship thoughtfully. "A team of rhinos…or a team of benders." He looked at Katara and Tyrn.

Tyrn ran back a couple feet as Aang and Katara started to bring the waves up to the ship. The ship started to run into the water. "Everyone get on it!" Tyrn yelled. She quickly blew a strong gust at the ship, forcing it into the water. Everyone jumped in as the ship headed down the river. Tyrn glanced behind them and cried out.

"Do those guys ever quit?" The Gaang looked as the pirates caught up to them. They started to leap across the ships, attacking them. Aang quickly made a huge wave that swept over the ship's deck, taking some of the pirates away with them. Katara hesitated as Tyrn watched a pirate slowly gang up on her. "Katara, a little help, please?" Katara closed her eyes as she quickly bended a whip, and finally struck the pirate, sending him overboard!

Tyrn ran over and clapped excitedly. "Congrats, you mastered the whip!" Aang offered his own congratulations before they heard a cry of help from Sokka.

"Can you guys cut the happy celebration and GET THESE GUYS OFF ME?" He yelled as he started to be tossed aside by two pirates.

"Gladly!" Tyrn ran over and started her air whip, swirling them around the pirates as the fast air current spun them around over her head. Guiding through the movements, Tyrn quickly whipped them over the side of the ship. She stood up and brushed off her hands, pleased at the result.

Aang ran over. "How did you do that?"he asked in awe.

Tyrn smiled sheepishly. "That's what I was trying to perfect before those guys captured me."

Their conversation was cut short as Katara cried out in fear. "Waterfall!" They all looked forward as they saw a huge waterfall dropping down ahead of them.

Katara and Aang ran towards the front of the ship. "Aang, help me push and pull the water!" Katara said, and the two quickly started to make two small whirlpools. The ship slowly spun into a stop, parallel to the waterfall's edge. "We're doing it!" Katara said happily.

"Uh, we have another problem!" Sokka pointed to the pirate's ship, which then crashed into theirs. Everyone started to scream as the ship slowly tipped over the edge. "Jump!" they all held hands as the leaped over the edge of the falls, screaming as they went.

"Aang, dog whistle time! Blow the whistle!" Tyrn yelled over to Aang, who nodded and grabbed his whistle, blowing as hard as he could.

"This isn't exactly the right time to have flute practice!" Sokka yelled.

Suddenly, Appa came out of nowhere and caught them all, flying away from the falling ships. They all sighed in relief as Aang held out his whistle. He turned to Tyrn. "So I guess we can't hear this, but Appa can, like your dog whistle?" Tyrn nodded."I knew this would come in handy. Thanks Appa." He said, patting the heroic bison's head.

"Yeah, we owe you BIG time." Sokka sighed, sinking into the saddle.

Tyrn spoke up. "Hey guys…" they all look at her. "I'm sorry about getting us into all this. I was trying to make an air whip out of the movements of the scroll so I could help Katara get the water whip."

Katara reached over and hugged the airbender. "It's okay, I'm really happy that you wanted to help. No one's ever done something like that for me."

Aang shook his head at Tyrn. "You don't need to apologize. Besides, that was one of the coolest air whips I've ever seen!" he said excitedly.

Tyrn beamed. "You really think so?"

Aang nodded. "We just need to work on a few more moves, and you'll take the test to being a master."

Katara gave Tyrn a high-five as Sokka felt something in his pocket.

"Hey guys, anyone recognize this?" The group gasped as he held out the waterbending scroll.

"The scroll!" Katara reached for it before Sokka held her back.

"Ah, ah, ah! First, what did you learn?"

Katara thought for a second. "Stealing is wrong…" she quickly snatched the scroll, "…unless it's from pirates!"

Aang, Katara and Sokka laughed when Tyrn groaned as they flew off. "I could've totally seen that joke coming…"

* * *

**Hooray for staying up until 1 in the morning typing this up! Tyrn made up her own move, and is closer to her title of master airbender! Did you guys like that chapter?**

**Next chapter is when the group meets Jet! I smell jealousy in this one! But, you guys have to wait! I feel evil :-D**

**Until then, Ciao!**


	7. Chapter 7

********

FINALLY. I've finished this chapter...sorry for keeping you all waiting. You try writing a witty and interesting chapter at 2 in the morning...

**BlueStripedPolo, this chapter is dedicated to you, for your review on my 3rd chapter on how Tyrn could interfere with the events of the episode! Tyrn and the others meet Jet in this chapter. Ah, this is going to be interesting... I hope you enjoy Chapter 7!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"I'll get you down, Momo!" Aang flew up as he spotted Momo in an animal trap. The group had just stopped for a break in a dense forest when they went looking for a MIA lemur.

Tyrn flew up beside Aang and quickly undid the traps holding two other animals next to Momo. "I swear these things are just wrong!" she protested, letting them go. "It's just like bear traps back at home." She jumped down from the branch.

Sokka examined the traps. "These are Fire Nation, I can tell from the metalwork. We need to pack up our stuff and leave." The group quickly went back to Appa to start repacking their things.

Tyrn had just put her sketchbook away in her bag and handed it to Aang when Sokka went over and took it. "Hey! Give that back!" she quickly snatched her bag from Sokka's hands.

"We can't fly on Appa this time. There's a reason why Zuko and his crew always find us. He's too noticeable!" Sokka flailed his arms out as he reasoned.

"Appa's not too noticeable!" Katara said, putting her hands on her hips.

Tyrn snickered. "Hate to side with Sokka on this one, but he's right. Appa's a massive flying pillow with an arrow on his head; I'm surprised we haven't signaled our location to anyone who happened to look up this morning."

Appa groaned in response. Aang patted his head. "Tyrn's just jealous that she doesn't have an arrow." He said, smiling at Tyrn.

"Not YET anyways!" Tyrn smirked. "My test for a master's title is in a couple days, remember?"

"I just think that my instincts are right; we need to play it safe this time and walk." Sokka continued.

"Wait a minute!" Katara walked over to Sokka. "Since when are you the boss?"

"I'm the oldest, so that makes me leader!" Sokka retorted.

Katara giggled. "If anyone's the leader, it's Aang. I mean, he's the Avatar."

"Are you kidding me? He's just some goofy kid!"

It was Tyrn's turn to giggle as she turned to find Aang hanging from Appa's horn.

Katara countered, "Why do boys always think that there has to be a leader. I'll bet that you'll be less bossy if you kissed a girl."

Sokka turned slightly pink. "I've so kissed a girl! You've just…never met her."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is it Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran." Aang and Tyrn looked at each other and started to snicker at Sokka's reddening face.

Tyrn winked at Sokka as she said, "And kisses on the cheek don't count either!"

Sokka's face rivaled the red trees above them, remembering Kyoshi Island. "Enough about this leader thing and…kissing girls, ok? Look, let's just go on foot, and follow my instincts."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever you say, oh wise leader."

Aang took one of their sleeping bags on his back. "Besides, walking might be fun!"

_Famous last words. _Tyrn thought sarcastically as they headed off into the woods.

* * *

Tyrn backed into Aang and Katara as she stared at the Fire Nation camp in front of them. "If you let us go, we'll promise not to hurt you." Sokka warned the soldiers as they slowly approached the Gaang.

"What are you doing?" hissed Katara.

"Bluffing?" Sokka asked.

Tyrn slapped her forehead. "This is why we don't trust your instincts, Sokka, your idea of walking is about to get us killed!" she whispered furiously.

The captain of the soldiers laughed. "You, hurt us?" He was suddenly silenced when everyone heard a quiet 'twang' as something hit the captain in the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Hey, how'd you do that, Sokka?" Aang smiled, looking over at him.

"Um…instinct?" Sokka shrugged.

The group looked up to find a tall teenager jump down from the trees, grabbing two soldiers by the foot and quickly throwing them into a flip, landing on the captain. He landed, pointing his hook swords at the others. "Down you go!"

Katara, Sokka and Aang looked on in amazement as Tyrn narrowed her eyes. She recognized Jet, but remembering the episode, she wasn't very happy to meet him. With a yell, more of their mysterious savior's crew jumped down from the treetops, attacking the unprepared soldiers.

"Well, let's move!" Tyrn called to the others, as she quickly ran into the fray, blasting soldiers with her airbending. Katara and Aang quickly sprang after her, using water whips and airbending to bring the soldiers down.

Sokka tried to hit some soldiers with his club, but Jet beat him to it. "Aw, man! I was going to get him!"

"Better be quicker next time!" was the only response he got as the teenager went back to fighting. Sokka scowled before yelping as he dodged another fire blast.

Jet quickly fought off another soldier before somersaulting, running to a stop in front of Katara. He looked down at her. "Hey."

Katara looked up. "Hi." They both turned at the camp, which was now clear of the soldiers, most of them had either run away or had been defeated.

Aang flew over to them. "Wow, you just defeated an army of Fire Nation soldiers almost singlehandedly!" he said with admiration.

"An army? There were only like, 20 guys!" Tyrn said, observing the camp.

Sokka came up behind her. "Exactly what I thought!"

Tyrn mock shivered. "Ok, I've been agreeing with you way too much, it's almost unnatural."

Jet stepped forward. "My name's Jet and these are my Freedom Fighters. That's Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak." He said, pointing to each member respectively.

Aang walked up to The Duke and Pipsqueak. "Haha, Pipsqueak. What a funny name!" he said, looking at the Duke.

"You think my name is funny?" the very large dude spoke up next to Smellerbee, glaring at Aang.

Tyrn grinned. "Dude, you're like, the half-brother of John Cena and your name is _Pipsqueak_! Of course it's hilarious!"

Tyrn, Aang, The Duke and Pipsqueak all started laughing, even though they didn't really get Tyrn's reference.

Standing next to one of the tents, Sokka glared at the Freedom Fighters, who were looting the camp. _Stupid Freedom Fighters…showing off and taking my opponent away from me… _He muttered in his mind.

Katara walked over to Jet. "Thanks for saving us. We were really lucky you showed up."

He shook his head. "We should be thanking you guys. We've been waiting to ambush those guys all morning, but you proved to be the perfect distraction."

"We were relying on instinct." Katara said, glancing over her shoulder at Sokka as she said this.

Sokka frowned as he walked towards Tyrn, the Duke and Pipsqueak. "You can get yourself killed doing that." He heard Jet say.

Sniffing the yellow goop, The Duke yelled over to Jet. "Hey Jet! These barrels are full of blasting jelly."

"That's a good catch!" Jet yelled back.

Pipsqueak picked up a crate. "These crates are full of jelly candy!"

"Ooh, candy, gimme gimme!" Tyrn opened the lid and grabbed a couple. Putting one in her mouth, she sighed as the sugary rush filled her mouth. "Wow these are good."

Aang chuckled at her. "Someone's hyperactive when it comes to candy."

Rolling her eyes, Tyrn retorted "It's not like you're not. Want one?"

Aang took on from her outstretched hand and put it in his mouth. "Wow, these are good." Both Tyrn and Aang smiled at each other, mouths filled with sugar.

Jet and Katara headed over to where they stood. "The candy is also a good catch. We don't want to mix up the candy and blasting jelly." Jet said, helping them load their findings onto a cart. "Let's get back to the hide out."

Aang looked over. "You guys have a hideout? Cool!"

"Sure, you want to see it?" Jet asked.

Katara popped up. "Yes we want to see it!" Jet smiled at her while Tyrn made gagging noises behind him. Katara glared at her as Tyrn shrugged, walking after the group.

After a few minutes, Jet stopped in front of the group and took a line hanging from a tree. "We're here."

Sokka looked around. "Where? There's nothing here!"

Jet handed him the line. "Here, hold on tight."

Taking it, Sokka stared at him questioningly. "Why, what does it doooooOOOOO!" he yelled as the line zipped up into the trees. Tyrn flinched when Sokka hit his head on a branch on his way up.

Taking another hidden line, Jet offered it to Aang and Tyrn. "No thanks, we'll get up our own way." Aang politely refused, and he airbended onto the branches.

Tyrn laughed. "Wait up!" she quickly followed after him, but stopped to glance back at Katara and Jet, who were _innocently _close as they rode up the line. Smirking, she put away that little piece of blackmail as she followed Aang up the platform. When Tyrn finally reached the platform, she looked around to find Aang speeding past on a zipline-like contraption. Shaking her head in amusement, she quickly grabbed a zipline and sped down the line, catching up to Aang. They both laughed as they passed by the others, who were walking on the bridge.

"Yeah, nothing's braver than a guy in a tree house…" she heard Sokka say to Jet and Katara. She turned around to shout back, "Somebody's jealous!" She laughed even more when she saw Sokka's expression as he slunk back.

She turned around, however, to see that Aang was right in front of her as he landed on a platform. There was no time to warn him, so she just braced herself as she plowed into Aang, sending them sprawling onto the platform.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Tyrn apologized as she helped Aang up.

Aang smiled. "It's alright. That was a killer ride, though!" he said, giddily bouncing up and down.

Tyrn giggled, and then turned to find Katara and Jet coming up to where they were, laughing as she went. Aang followed her gaze as he stopped his glee, his smile fading. Tyrn looked over to Aang, whose eyes lost some of their usual spark.

"You ok, Aang?" Aang snapped his head over to Tyrn, who looked worriedly at him.

He shook off her concern. "I'm fine. Come on, let's go and explore some more!" he turned and walked over to another section of Jet's tree house fort, but not before whispering. "First Haru, now Jet. Won't this get any easier?"

Tyrn picked up his little comment and sighed. "I'd better have a talk with him later..." she muttered as she followed Aang around the fort.

* * *

"The Fire Nation thinks that they don't have to worry about little kids. Maybe they're right…" Everyone was enjoying a meal at a large table on the ground, and Jet was making a speech about their victory that afternoon as they were about to dig in. Tyrn looked around at all the kids booing at the last part of Jet's speech, amazed at sheer number of Freedom Fighters.

"Or maybe…" she turned back to Jet, eyeing Katara, who was looking at Jet admiringly.

"…they are DEAD. WRONG." Jet stood there as he wrapped up his speech, listening to the cheers of the Freedom Fighters. He went to his spot as everyone started to eat.

"That was a great speech Jet." Katara praised as he sat down.

"Thanks." He turned to Tyrn and Aang. "I've got to say, Tyrn and Aang. You guys did some fantastic airbending back there!"

Picking at her fish, Tyrn muttered under her breath, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

Aang glanced at her, and then turned to Jet. "Thanks, Jet!"

Jet then looked at Katara. "You and Aang also did some really cool waterbending moves! The way you wiped out that one guard off his feet was amazing."

Katara looked down at the praise. "Well, Aang's the Avatar and all. I need more training." She said, blushing slightly.

"It didn't look like it." Jet remarked. "By the way, I think I know a way for you benders to help us with our struggle."

Sokka stood up. "Well, we need to get going tomorrow, so we'll have to say no." He started to leave when Jet called out to him.

"Aw, you're kidding me! Sokka, I need you on a special mission tomorrow…"

Sokka turned around. "A mission?" Jet nodded.

Tyrn turned to Sokka. "Hey Sokka, I think we forgot to take down our stuff on Appa, can you go with me to check?" she winked as she said this.

Catching her message, he nodded. "Oh yeah! Come on, before he rolls over and tips it all out of the saddle." Waving at the others, Tyrn and Sokka went over to where Appa laid with the load already off his back.

Tyrn went up to rub Appa's head. "Ok, what's up?" Sokka asked, leaning into Appa in front of her.

Looking around before answering, Tyrn spoke in a low voice. "I know you don't trust Jet, and I don't either. I know what he's going to do the day after tomorrow and let me tell you, it's not good."

Sokka's eyes widened. "You saw this on your TV thing at home right?"

Tyrn nodded. "He's going to try and blow up the dam with the blasting jelly they found earlier. He's going to try and flood the village!"

Sokka frowned. "Well what are we going to do? The others are probably not going to believe us." He grinned when he saw Tyrn's smirk. "You know, for us not getting along much, we're a good team when we do."

Her smirk growing even bigger, Tyrn started to lay out her plan to Sokka.

* * *

The next day, Sokka and Jet went out on their "mission", Tyrn watching as they left. Turning around, she quickly ran over to where the Freedom Fighters held their supplies. Getting to work, Tyrn wiped her hands off about an hour later. "Part one, ready to go." Tyrn proudly stated as she went out of the supplies to go and find Aang and Katara.

Katara was making something as Aang was zipping around when Tyrn came up. Staring at the object in the waterbender's hands, Tyrn spoke. "Um, I'm probably going to regret this, but what the _heck _are you making?"

Katara held up the red object. "Oh, it's a hat."

Tyrn smirked. "Oh, is it for the newest object of your affection? Jet?"

Blushing, Katara stood up. "It's not like that!"

Rolling her eyes, Tyrn said, "Oh come on. It's not like I didn't see the little scene on the lines yesterday." She grinned when Katara blushed heavily. "Well, if you're going to be like that, at least let me give you my two cents." Katara raised an eyebrow as Tyrn's face went somber. "I don't trust Jet, plain and simple. You better watch your back."

"What? How can you say that? He's been so nice to us!" Katara said, shocked.

"He's a smooth talker who would do anything to get back at the Fire Nation." Tyrn responded.

"You're acting like Sokka!"

"I know, and it thoroughly creeps me out." Sokka walked up to them, joining the conversation. Tyrn rolled her eyes as Sokka continued. "But she and I are both right. Katara, he attacked an old man in the forest today!"

Katara refused to be swayed. "I want to hear Jet's side of the story." She walked away to find said Freedom Fighter's leader.

Sokka grabbed Tyrn's shoulder before he followed her. "Did you finish step one of the plan?"

She nodded. "It takes forever to move that stuff!"

Smiling, Sokka gave Tyrn a quick hug. "Thanks for siding with me on this. I really couldn't have done it without you."

Tyrn playfully shoved Sokka away. "Hey, you would've done it…eventually! I just think this is an easier way of dealing with things. And," her eyes sparked mischievously, "it's way more fun."

"Hey guys, get over here!" Katara called out to them as she and Aang stood next to Jet.

_Here we go. _Tyrn thought grimly as she and Sokka walked to where the others were.

"Sokka, you told them about the old man, but you didn't mention that he was Fire Nation?" Jet asked when they reached them.

Katara narrowed her eyes at Sokka. "No, he conveniently let that part out."

"But he was just an old man, what harm could he do?" Tyrn asked.

Jet took out a dagger and thrust it into a stump. "This knife was on him when we ambushed him." Unscrewing the top, he pulled out a small vial. "See, there's a hidden compartment for poison. He was sent to kill me." Jet looked at Sokka. "You saved my life."

"I knew there was an explanation." Katara said, relieved.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see any knife!"

"That's because he was concealing it." Jet coolly replied.

Katara turned to Sokka. "See Sokka, I'm sure you just didn't see the knife."

Sokka turned to her. "There was no knife! I'm going back to get my things. "Tyrn watched as Sokka left.

Jet looked at Aang, Katara and Tyrn. "Please tell me you're not leaving yet, I really need your help." He pleaded.

Aang looked at him. "What do you need us to do?"

"The Fire Nation is planning to set fire to the forest. If you can, you can use waterbending to fill the reservoir to fight the fires. But if you leave now, they'll destroy the valley." He said sadly.

Katara and Aang looked at each other, while Tyrn glared slightly at Jet. _Liar. _She thought bitterly.

Sokka looked up from his packing to find Katara, Tyrn and Aang walking in.

"We are not about to leave when the Fire Nation is about to burn down the village!" Katara exclaimed angrily at Sokka.

"We can't trust him Katara. He's a liar and a thug!" Sokka retorted.

Katara crossed her arms. "You know what? I think you're just jealous, because Jet's a better leader and warrior."

"He's not jealous!" Tyrn stomped her foot in anger as they all looked at her. "Jet's just interested in hurting the Fire Nation, and he's ready to do anything to do it! I know this for a fact, because in case you forgot, I've seen everything already! It's Sokka's instinct and my knowledge against yours."

Katara narrowed her eyes at Tyrn. "Well, my instincts and knowledge of Jet makes me think that we should stay a little bit longer to help Jet. Come on, Aang." Katara left the small room.

Aang looked sadly at Tyrn and Sokka. "I'm really sorry, guys."

Tyrn shook her head. "No, sorry for getting you tied up in this. Go after Katara." Nodding, the avatar followed Katara out the hut.

Sokka turned to Tyrn. "Ok, what now?"

"We need to wait for Katara and Aang to go off with Jet tomorrow. I'll follow them and lead them to where we'll confront Jet. You set up the trap for when I give the signal."

The warrior nodded. "Let's just try to get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow."

* * *

Walking alongside the others, Tyrn looked at the steaming holes in the ground as Jet and the benders started near the river leading to the reservoir. Tyrn noticed that Aang looked a little down and slowed her pace to match his.

"You ok, Aang?"

Aang nodded. "This crush stuff doesn't get any easier, does it?" he asked, nodding to Jet and Katara, who were chattering away up ahead of them.

Tyrn shrugged. "It isn't a walk in the park. Until you get the guts to tell Katara how you feel, there's going to be competition. But trust me," Aang looked at her, "I don't think you'll have to worry about Jet for long."

Aang looked at her questionably. "What do you mea—"he was cut off as one of the steam vents blasted him into the air. Katara and Tyrn laughed at his expression when Jet stopped walking.

"We're here." He gesturing to the vents around them. "There's water underneath here, trying to escape these vents. I need you guys to help it along."

Katara hesitated. "I don't know, I've never tried bending water I can't see."

Putting his hands on her shoulders, Jet came up from behind Katara. "Katara, you can do this." He looked over at Aang. "And I'm sure the Avatar can do this."

"What about me?" Tyrn asked.

"You can help blow the steam away so we can see the water better." Katara offered.

Nodding, the three set out to work. As Aang and Katara started to drag out the water, Tyrn kept the steam at bay so they could see. They finally dragged the water out and into the river, making a geyser out of the hole.

"Brilliant! I'll go and check on how things are going at the reservoir." Jet commented, walking away.

Katara called out after him. "When we're done, we'll meet you there."

Jet froze, and quickly replied back. "Actually, probably better to see me back at the hideout."

Tyrn smirked as she went back to her bending. "You're going to get what's coming at you." She muttered under her breath.

A few geysers later, Aang stopped to catch his breath. "I think that's enough, and I'm not just saying that to be lazy." He said, observing the now full river.

"Ok, let's go see Jet at the reservoir." Katara said, starting to walk off.

"Didn't Jet ask us to meet him at the hideout?" Aang asked.

Tyrn smiled. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

The group started to walk, Tyrn leading the way. They reached a cliff overlooking the dam.

"Hey, aren't those the barrels they got from the camp?" Aang asked, peering over the cliff at the bottom of the dam.

Katara looked puzzled. "Why would they need blasting jelly?" she asked, looking over to where Aang pointed.

"Because Jet's going to blow up the dam." Tyrn spoke up quietly.

Katara and Aang gasped. "What? Jet wouldn't do that, it would destroy the village!"

Aang opened his glider. "I got to stop them!" he said, leaping into the air.

"Jet wouldn't do that…" Katara whispered.

Tyrn whipped her head to see Jet tackle Aang from the side, taking his glider. "Yes I would." Jet said, standing up.

"Why, Jet? I can't believe I trusted you!" Katara asked, upset.

"Katara, the Fire Nation destroyed my village, took my parents away from me, and killed the lives of all of my Freedom Fighters. You have to understand why I'm doing this." Jet pleaded.

Aang and Katara cringed when a loud slap resonated across the clearing. Tyrn breathed angrily as Jet held his cheek. "You call yourself a Freedom Fighter, saying that you're fighting for the justice of others from the Fire Nation. But you're a monster, killing innocent lives for a sick vengeance against the people who took your parents. You're despicable." She seethed.

Glaring at her, Jet let out a sudden yell as he attacked Tyrn, swinging his hook swords at her. Tyrn quickly airbended herself up into the trees, as Jet followed her as she jumped for branch to branch. Stopping on a wide limb, Tyrn paused to catch her breath as Jet jumped up. Blocking his attempts to hit her with his swords, she quickly air whipped him back into the tree. Tyrn somersaulted over the edge, flying down to the trees below. She cried out, however, as she felt a hook catch her shoulder, dragging her down as Jet flew past her. Tyrn let out a yell as she hit the floor of the forest, rolling onto her back as Jet landed a few feet away from her.

"NOW!" Tyrn yelled out, wincing at the pain it did to her injuries. Jet was suddenly attacked by a net, which secured itself into a nearby trunk. He struggled as Sokka leaped out from his hiding place, running over to where Tyrn laid on the floor. Katara and Aang, who were watching the fight from below, were already there, Katara checking Tyrn as she groaned on the ground in pain.

"Ok, me getting hurt wasn't part of the plan…" Tyrn groaned as Aang helped her into a sitting position.

Sokka smiled at her. "Don't worry, the plan worked anyways." Katara and Sokka looked at Jet, who stopped struggling in his prison up against the tree.

"You're sick, I can't believe I trusted you!" Katara yelled at him, tears running down her face. All four of them looked up in surprise when Jet began whistling, sending out a call like a robin's.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked, still crying.

Jet looked smug. "You're too late!"

Katara and Aang looked out over the dam. "No!" Katara cried out.

Aang tried to fly off, but his glider was too badly damaged from when Jet tackled him. They all didn't notice Sokka and Tyrn however, who were wearing big grins on their faces.

"Wait for it…" Tyrn sang out.

Jet, Katara and Aang held their breaths as they saw a single, flaming arrow land on the bundle below.

Silence.

Katara and Aang's jaw dropped as Sokka and Tyrn high-fived. There was no explosion as the arrow simply burned the top of the wood barrel, burning out.

"No! It was supposed to blow up! Why didn't it work?" Jet cried out.

Sokka helped Tyrn stand up as she grinned in triumph. "You can't blow up a dam when the barrels of blasting jelly are filled with jelly candy!"

Aang and Katara looked at Tyrn in astonishment. "You switched the blasting jelly?"

Nodding, Sokka spoke up. "Tyrn…uh…" he glanced at Jet, "…overhead Jet's plan to blow up the dam. So we devised a plan where she was to switch the candy with the blasting jelly. Then we hitched up the trap against Jet." He just couldn't explain how Tyrn saw his plan from a TV show in her world.

Tyrn was attacked by Katara's hugs while Aang smiled brightly. "You guys are the best!"

Aang walked over and gave Tyrn a huge hug. "Wow, that was such a great plan! You're so awesome!" Tyrn blushed at the close contact and praise.

Sokka had run and gotten Appa, who was hiding up in the tree tops. "Come on, let's get out of here." They all climbed on to Appa when they heard Jet cry out.

"You're all traitors!"

Sokka shook his head. "No Jet. You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."

Jet looked at Katara. "Katara, please…help me!"

Closing her eyes in sadness, Katara looked away. "Goodbye Jet."

"Yip yip!" Tyrn stuck her tongue out at a furious Jet as they flew away, leaving him still stuck to the tree.

Leaning over once again to hug her, Katara apologized. "I'm so sorry for doubting you guys."

Patting her back, Tyrn smiled, accepting her apology. "It's alright. Sokka and I took care if it, no sweat! Which is surprising since we argue like brother and sister." She rolled her eyes.

Tyrn and Sokka high-fived as Aang spoke up. "You remembered Jet's plan from your TV, didn't you."

Tyrn grinned as she petted Momo's furry head. "Well, on TV Sokka's instincts actually saved you, by just evacuating the village first."

Katara raise an eyebrow. "Then why go through all this trouble?"

Tyrn broke out laughing. "Did you see Jet's face when he saw his plan didn't work? His eyes looked like the size of Momo's body!"

Everyone started laughing as they flew off, Momo looking up innocently at the comment. "It was worth it!"

* * *

**I always wondered what they did with the candy in that episode! Well, did you like Tyrn and Sokka's evil scheme? I figured they needed a chapter to bond. :)**

**Just a side-note, I'm not going to update another chappie until next Monday. I'm going to be busy and the weekend is full of everyone updating anyways. Next time will find out Aang's past from the episode: "The Storm".**

**Until then, Ciao!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ok, new chapter is up! Sorry it's a day late, I was busy yesterday with...stuff. :) This chapter is a little suckish in my option, but let me know what you thought of it!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"_How could you?" a sob rang out. _

_Tyrn turned to find her family, looking at them with shock. Her father held his wife as she sobbed; her brother stood there, eyes turned to the ground. Her dog barks angrily, and starts to growl, causing Tyrn to take a step back._

"_How could you forget us? You selfish little brat!" Tyrn flinched as her father snapped at her, still holding her distraught mother._

_Tyrn tried to explain. "I didn't mean to!" She tried to run to her mother, but her dog snapped her teeth as her, keeping her at bay._

_Her brother looked up, a cold, lifeless look in his eyes. "I should've known you would abandon us. You're no sister of mine." _

_He suddenly let go of the dog's leash, and the vicious dog went straight for Tyrn, teeth glistening in the light._

_The dream suddenly changed, and Tyrn found herself in front of a judge, with the Gaang on one side and her friends and family on the other._

"_Well? Who do you choose?" she looked back up to find a black dragon, holding a mallet in his claw. Tyrn turned to see Aang and Katara laughing at a silly Sokka, and her family enjoying a card game, having a great time._

"_Come join us, Tyrn. Come join us." Everyone in the room started to chant as they approached Tyrn. The young teen was backed into a corner as they all crowded around her._

"_Choose wisely, young one…" the black dragon slithered up in front of Tyrn, who was trembling in fear._

"_Or suffer…__**for all eternity**__!" the dragon roared, attacking at her throat._

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Tyrn screamed, sitting up as she clutched her throat. Aang, Katara and Sokka jumped, turning to the panting airbender.

"Oh my gosh, Tyrn are you alright?" Katara asked, running over to her side. Sokka just stared at her worriedly as Aang looked surprised at her outburst.

Waving away their concerns, Tyrn slowly realized she was awake and removed her hands from her neck. Quieting down, she nodded. "Just a bad dream."

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Really? Geez, everyone's been hit with the nightmares, first Aang, and now you."

Aang looked down in silence as Tyrn stared at him. "It's nothing Sokka, I'm sure it's just a coincidence. Good night!" With that, Aang popped back down and rolled over, facing away from the others.

Tyrn sighed at the sight of the sullen avatar as Katara glared at Sokka. Turning once again to Tyrn, Katara asked again, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"You know, I'm going to follow lead and go back to sleep." Tyrn laid back down and closed her eyes.

Sighing, Katara went back to her mat as Sokka spoke up. "Does anyone want to hear my dream?"

"Good NIGHT." Aang and Tyrn said tersely.

"Sheesh, fine. I didn't want to talk about it anyways." Sokka muttered.

Waking up to a bright and sunny sky, Tyrn stretched and yawned as they all started to pack up their campsite.

Aang smiled as he looked up to the clear sky. "There should be some smooth flying today!"

Shaking the food bag, Katara walked up Appa's tail. "We'd better smooth sail ourselves over to a market, 'cause we're all out of food."

Tyrn gasped. "Oh no! Without food, Sokka's sanity will start to waste away!"

Sokka rolled his eyes at her, and then he suddenly spoke up. "Wait, we shouldn't go to the market today! Something happened in my dream!"

"What happened in your dream?" Katara asked.

"Food EATS people!" Sokka exclaimed, making wavy motions with his hands.

Aang face palmed as Katara stared at Sokka in disbelief. Tyrn sighed and shrugged. "Too late…" They all continued to pack up as Sokka started making faces at Momo.

Flying into town, they started to walk into the market. Katara was swishing a watermelon as Aang walked up to Tyrn.

"Hey," Tyrn turned to him. "Are you alright?"

Nodding, Tyrn silently as she turned back to the sea. Aang sighed as they joined Katara and Sokka, the older brother rubbing his backside.

"What now?" Sokka complained.

Katara put her hands on her hips. "Maybe you should get a job. We need the money if you want to eat tonight."

They all turned when they overheard an old couple arguing a few feet away from them. "You can't go out there! The fish can wait for now. There's going to be a terrible storm!" Tyrn glanced at Aang, whose eyes slightly widened at the mention of the storm.

The old man scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Look at the weather! No clouds, no wind, you're out of your mind."

Aang hesitantly spoke up to the rest of the group. "Maybe we should find some shelter?"

"Shelter from what?" Sokka questioned. "It's a beautiful day!"

The old woman continued to argue with her husband. "My joints say that there's a big storm coming!"

"It's your joints against my brain!"

"Well I hope your brain can find someone else to come and haul the fish, because I'm not coming!" The old woman turned away and crossed her arms.

"I'll go!" Everyone turned to Sokka, who stepped over to the old couple.

The fisherman grinned. "You're hired!"

Sokka looked back at Katara, Aang and Tyrn, who just stared back. "What? You told me to get a job! And I'm not going to starve tonight!"

About half an hour later, Sokka and the old man were getting ready to head out. Aang and Katara stood by, watching them, while Tyrn looked up nervously at the darkening sky.

"Um, Sokka?" he turned to Tyrn. "I don't think this is such a good idea…"

"Yeah!" Aang cut in. "The storm looks like it's pretty bad."

The old woman spoke to her husband. "The girl and the boy with the tattoos have some sense. You should listen to them!" she said, walking away.

Her husband straightened up. "Boy with tattoos?" He turned to look at Aang more closely. "…airbender tattoos. Well I'd be a hog monkey's uncle! You're the avatar aren't you?" he asked, stepping up to him.

Katara smiled Aang straightened his back. "That's right."

"Well don't be so smiley about it." Katara and Aang's smiles slowly faded as the old man started to rant. "The avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world." He yelled, poking Aang in the chest.

Katara stepped up. "Don't yell at him! Aang wouldn't turn his back on anyone."

"Oh really, huh? Then I must've imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering!" he retorted.

Katara angrily yelled back. "Aang is the bravest person I know. It's not his fault he got stuck in the iceberg, right Aang?" Tyrn and Katara turned to Aang, who was starting to back away slowly. "Aang?" Katara stopped her angry tone when she saw the avatar fly away on his glider.

"That's right, keep running away!" the old man yelled after the retreating figure.

Tyrn glared at the old man. "You're a horrible old man! How could you say that to a twelve year old kid?" she quickly jumped onto Appa, Katara and Sokka silently watching her. "Appa! Yip-yip!" Tyrn yelled, flying off on the bison.

Sokka walked up to his sister, who watched sullenly after Tyrn. "Don't worry," she turned to him, "they'll find him."

* * *

The rain had already soaked through her clothes as Tyrn desperately looked around the mountains. Finding a small cave, she led Appa into the entrance as they touched down. She patted his head before looking into the darkness. Sitting alone in the darkness was Aang, down on his knees.

"Aang?" Tyrn hesitantly asked. No response. She walked up to her tutor and best friend as he spoke.

"I don't want to talk about it." he said softly, choking on his words as he started to cry.

Tyrn sat down next to him. Sighing, she drew him into a hug as he cried quietly. "You don't need to. I already know." She waited as he cried into her shoulder, slowly calming down. If it were any other situation Tyrn would be as red as a tomato, but right now Aang just needed a friend to be with him. They sat there for a while as they listened to the rain pounding outside.

"You ran away. That's why you've been having nightmares." Tyrn stated.

Aang sighed as he drew his head from her shoulder and looked at her. "And then the Fire Nation attacked the Air Temples, and I wasn't there to help." He said guiltily.

"Aang…"

"The world needed me and I was stuck in an iceberg!" He spoke louder. Tyrn could see the guilt and regret in his eyes as he continued. "The fisherman was right. I did turn my back on the world." He said angrily, ripping himself from Tyrn's embrace and looking away.

Tyrn stared at a regretful and angry Aang. "You did not. If you had stayed you would've have been killed along with the other airbenders."

"You don't know that."

"You're right, I don't. Even with my telepathic knowledge called TV." Chuckling slightly, Tyrn took in a breath before continuing. "But we can't live on the past. You couldn't have met Katara or Sokka if you stayed. You're back now to save the world and to give people hope again."

For a moment, Tyrn thought that Aang didn't hear her. But she suddenly gasped as he turned around and hugged her hard. She was stunned for a second as Aang spoke up.

"Thank you, Tyrn. I hope we'll be best friends forever." Aang said.

Tyrn stiffened when he said 'forever'. She stepped back. "Y-yeah…forever…"

Aang was about to ask what was wrong when a cry came from the entrance. "Help!"

They both turned to the entrance to find Katara walking in with the old fisherman's wife. "Aang, Tyrn, are you in here?"

Running over, Tyrn and Aang helped them into the dry cave. "It's alright, you're safe." Tyrn assured the old woman.

"But her husband and Sokka aren't!" Katara cried out. "The storm's becoming a typhoon and they haven't made it back yet!" Tyrn gasped.

Aang stood up. "I'm going to go and find them."

"I'm coming too!" Both Katara and Tyrn said.

"I'm staying here!" The old woman exclaimed, sitting down onto the floor.

Getting onto Appa, the three started out into the storm. They flew over the ocean, Katara and Tyrn looking out over the sides of the saddle as Aang steered in a random direction. _Come on, Sokka, where are you? _That one thought was running through all of their minds as they looked over the raging sea. They suddenly gasped as they saw a huge wave, coming up to tower above them.

"Come on, Appa!" Aang encouraged his bison, who groaned in response and started to fly upwards. Grabbing his staff, the airbender quickly started to spin it in a rapid circle, pushing their way through the wave.

Tyrn shook the water from her face as she peered out over the waves. "There! It's the fishing boat!" she shouted, pointing to it as the small boat bobbed up and down on the sea.

Aang quickly steered Appa to fly over the boat. Katara and Tyrn quickly threw the rope over to Sokka and the fisherman, who tied themselves to it.

"You got the rope?" Katara yelled over to them, and they nodded. With a yank Katara and Tyrn pulled the rope, sending Sokka and the fisherman over the edge onto the saddle. Everyone sighed in relief, but it was short lived when they turned to find a monstrous wave starting to tower over them. They all started to scream as Aang desperately tried to get Appa out from under the wave. It was too late; their screams were muffled as the wave crashed over them, sending them all out off the saddle. Aang slowly opened his eyes as he took in the scene around him. Katara and Tyrn were desperately trying to hold on to the saddle as Sokka and the fisherman were holding their breaths, still tied together.

_No. Not this time! _Aang's hand snapped to grab Appa's reins back as his tattoos started to glow. His eyes were filled with the light as he moved to Appa's head. Pounding his fists together, he summoned an air bubble to surround his friends, and they all turned back up to the surface. Quickly breaking into the air, Aang caught a glimpse of Zuko's ship as they flew upwards, out of the eye of the storm.

* * *

They soon reached the harbor, where the fisherman's wife waited for them.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed, hugging her husband. "You owe this young man an apology!" she said sternly, pointing at Aang.

Aang shook his head. "It's alright."

"Well, if you weren't alive right now, I guess I wouldn't be either. So, thank you Avatar." The fisherman said sheepishly.

"Hey, where's my payment?" Sokka spoke up, putting his hand out. Tyrn smirked when he blanched at the fish slapped in his hand.

Katara went up to Aang. "I guess Tyrn talked to you." she said.

"Well, I realized I can't dwell on the past anymore, thanks to her help." he replied, glancing at Tyrn.

Katara smiled. "I don't think you'll be having nightmares anymore." she went to hug him, smiling when he hugged back.

They walked over to Appa and got on him. Waving goodbye to the fisherman couple, the Gaang flew off to the forest to set up camp. The sky grew dark with nightfall as they all sat around a fire, eating Sokka's "pay" and laughing. But Tyrn seemed to be less cheery than she usually was, poking at her fish portion as Katara and Aang listened to Sokka's story of being on the boat that afternoon.

"And so we were trying to haul up the fish net as the storm grew dark, and my foot was still stuck in the bucket whe—hey Tyrn are you alright?" Sokka suddenly broke off from his story as he looked over at the airbender.

Tyrn jumped a little when Sokka called to her, but shook her head. "I'm fine, just not hungry." Pushing away her fish, she got up. "I'm going to take a walk." she said, heading into the woods.

Everyone was silent as they watched her go. "What's her deal?" Sokka asked, putting a huge hunk of fish in his mouth.

"I don't know." Aang said. "She did seem kinda off today."

Katara looked at him. "Did you say something to her in the cave?"

"I tried too, but then you and the old woman showed up." he replied, eating his vegetarian meal.

"I'll go talk to her." said Katara, getting up and walking after her.

After walking for a few minutes, Katara found Tyrn sitting on the edge of a cliff, staring at the moon. Sitting down next to her, Katara spoke. "Are you alright?"

Tyrn didn't look away from the moon, but spoke anyways. "Fine."

Katara was silent for a moment before speaking. "We never got to thank you for talking with Aang today."

Smiling a little, Tyrn glanced over to Katara. "No problem. You would've done the same thing."

"I know, I was heading for Appa but you got to him so fast." Katara smiled back. "He said you really got through to him."

"Well, I kinda repeated what you said in the episode." Tyrn smiled sheepishly.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "So…you didn't talk about anything else?"

Tyrn froze for a second before answering. "Well…I don't think so."

Sighing, Katara turned Tyrn towards her. "What's going on?"

Knowing that she couldn't keep it from Katara, Tyrn spilled. "He said we were going to be best friends forever."

"What's so bad about that?" the waterbender asked, confused.

"Doesn't he know how hard that sentence makes things?" Katara raised an eyebrow as Tyrn continued. "We can't be friends forever, it's impossible! I'm separated from my friends, my family, my WORLD. And yet, I act like I don't even care. What kind of person am I if I don't even think of the people I love?" Tyrn put her head down. "If I get a chance to go back, if we ever even find a possibility to get me back to my world, I'll have to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. Stay here with you guys, or go home to my family."

Taking in a deep breath, Tyrn was silent as Katara drew her into a hug. "This is why you've been having nightmares, haven't you?" Tyrn nodded mutely. "Well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when it comes. You can't worry about this day and night for whatever time you'll be with us. We miss the happy, smart-aleck Tyrn we all know and love." Katara smiled lightly.

Tyrn was silent for a moment before she hugged Katara back. "Thanks Katara. Sokka is really lucky to have you as a sister." _And Aang is lucky to be crushing on a girl like you. _She thought, a little jealously perhaps, but still.

Unbeknownst to the two girls, a figure quietly crept away from the trees behind them as he walked back to their camp. "Hey, where have you been?" Sokka asked as he sat back in his place at the fire.

"Just took a bathroom break." Aang lied, taking a bite out of an apple he was eating.

* * *

**Sneaky, sneaky Aang! I know this chapter sucked :(**

**I know this chapter is short, so bear with me as I get the next chapter up and going. Next chapter is the Blue Spirit and the Fortuneteller (yay, two episodes in one, so you'll get more out of this next chapter)!**

**Until then, ciao!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, so it's not going to be a double episode chapter (too long when I combined both of them together.) so sorry if I got you guys anticipated!**

**Aang sets out to find a cure for Katara and Sokka's illness in this episode! it's a little on the short side, but I hope you like it anyways!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

Grabbing another cloth, Tyrn wets it with some water as she hears yet another cough. Sighing, she returns to Appa and hands the cloth to Katara. "Here's another one."

Katara thanks her and dabs the cloth on her brother's sweaty forehead. "This should bring your fever down."

"You know what I love about Appa? His sense of humor!" Sokka exclaimed, deliriously. Appa just groaned as the feverish warrior laughed. "Haha, good one!"

Katara just stared worriedly at Sokka while Tyrn smiled a little. "That's nice. I'll tell him that."

Holding a scroll in hand, Aang walked over to the girls. "How's Sokka doing?"

Tyrn shook her head. "That storm gave Sokka a nasty fever. He's been talking nonsense for the last hour." she winced when Sokka gave out another cough, watching him fidget and sweat.

Aang laid out a map on the floor. "There's a herbal institution on the mountain top. We can get a cure for Sokka there."

"Sokka's in no condition to travel." Katara protested. "He just needs a little rest." She suddenly gave out a hacking cough.

Tyrn shook her head. "Looks like you need some too. I think you caught Sokka's sickness."

"Relax, it was just a little cough! I'll be fi—"she stopped talking to give out another cough, this one worse than the last.

Aang removed his arm from his face. "That's how Sokka started yesterday! And look at him, he thinks he's an earthbender!"

Tyrn sweat-dropped at a delirious Sokka. "Take that you rock!" he said, making weird movements with his arms.

Aang got up. "A few more hours and then you'll be talking nonsense too. I'm going to find a cure." Grabbing his staff, he walked over to the stairs. As thunder and lighting echoed across the valley, Aang quickly put his staff down. "On second thought I should just walk."

"Aang, wait up!" he turned to find Tyrn running up to him. "The old lady who lives up there is going to give you some trouble. I suggest that you just go straight for the cure."

"What's the cure?" Aang asked.

Tyrn grimaced. "Go down to the lake and grab some of the frozen wood frogs under the mud. Katara and Sokka will need to suck on the skin to get the cure."

Aang blanched as she continued. "I know it's gross. But get them quickly; they'll be useless if they thaw out. And be careful of Fire Nation soldiers! There's already a declaration for your arrest, I've seen them in the towns we've past."

Giving Tyrn a quick hug, Aang stepped back. "I don't know what we would do without you."

Tyrn smirked. "I know what would happen, and trust me, it's not pretty. Go!" she watched as the young airbender sped down the stairs, disappearing from sight. She turned back to the Water Tribe duo, who were huddling against Appa's fur. She sighed as she walked over to her bag and got out a strip of cloth. Tying it around her nose and mouth, she quickly got to work making sure that Katara and Sokka were comfortable, waiting for Aang to get back.

_Hurry back, Aang. _She thought.

* * *

Jumping into the murky water, Aang quickly dove his hand underneath the surface. He gasped when he hit something cold and solid, and pulled his hand up to find just what he was looking for.

"A frozen frog!" Putting the frog in his shirt, he went around finding some more. He went searching for about five more minutes when his hand was suddenly pulled to a log. Aang looked up in shock to find an arrow pinning his sleeve to the log. It was followed by several other arrows, effectively tacking him to the wood. He screamed when a net and flung at him, trapping him underneath it.

_Oh no, _he thought fearfully as a group of archers approached him. _This is bad!_

Tyrn heard a faint scream as she fixed Sokka's position as he snored. Her eyes widened as the scream echoed in her ears.

_Oh no, Aang! _She thought, panicking. Looking back to the sick siblings, she quickly made a decision. Grabbing Katara's water sack, she quickly set it next to Katara.

Katara looked feebly at Tyrn. "Where are you going?"

Tyrn patted Katara's hand. "I need to go check on how Aang's doing with the cure. I'll be back, don't worry." Walking over to Aang's staff, she quickly grabbed it and opened the wings up. Glancing at the now clear but darkening sky, she quickly threw the glider into the air. Hopping on, she felt a quick rush of thrill as she soared through the sky.

_Now I know what a plane feels like. _She thought, grinning as she flew. Quickly spotting Zhao's fortress, she soared into the trees near the path. Her eyes widened, however, when she realized she had no idea on how to stop the glider! Tyrn painfully smacked into the tree, falling to the ground with a loud "oomph".

A hand reached out and grabbed her, putting another hand over Tyrn's mouth as her eyes widened at the sight of person she landed on.

"What the heck are you doing?" The Blue Spirit's low but harsh voice asked, removing his hand from her mouth.

Tyrn glared at the Blue Spirit. "Trying to save the one hope in the world from an evil admiral, so I guess you shouldn't harm someone with the same goal as you!" she whispered back.

The Blue Spirit stared at her for a second, and then quickly looked back to the road to see a cart coming up. Not saying a word, he quickly jumped under the cart and held on, Tyrn following him. Both of them glanced at each other for a second as the cart rumbled along to the gate.

The guard walked up to the cart and glanced at the inside, and then walked to the side to look under the cart. Not seeing anything, he waved the cart into the fortress. The Blue Spirit and Tyrn quietly looked out behind the crates inside the cart.

* * *

Aang started to come to in his prison chamber, and he opened his eyes to find himself chained and standing. _Ugh…my head… _he thought groggily. He looked when he heard the door opening. Aang scowled at the man who walked in, coming towards him.

"So this is the great Avatar. Master of all the elements…" Admiral Zhao started to circle the young airbender. "I don't know how you've managed to hide from the Fire Nation all these years, but your little game of hide and seek…" Zhao stopped behind Aang for a second, smirking, "…is over."

Aang angrily pulled at his bonds. "I've never hidden from you. Untie me right now and I'll fight you myself!" he snarled.

"Uh, no." Zhao looked back at Aang. "Tell me something. How does it feel to be the last airbender left?" he leaned close to Aang. "Do you miss your people?"

Aang glared back. _I'm not alone. _He thought. _Tyrn is still here with me…wait, Tyrn! _Aang widened slightly. _She knew about what was going to happen! _Aang lowered his head. _I just hope she comes to rescue me when she realizes I haven't come back yet._

Zhao smirked at the airbender's low head, thinking that he was saddened about the fate of his people. "Oh, don't worry. You won't be killed right away." Aang's head snapped back up in fury. "You'll just be reincarnated into the next nation of the cycle. The Fire Nation will just have to restart its search. So I'll keep you alive…" Zhao turned to walk out. "…just barely."

Aang took the opportunity to suck in a deep breath of air and blow a powerful blast at Zhao's back, slamming him into the wall.

Grunting, Zhao stood up. "Blow all the wind you want. Your situation is hopeless. No one can get out of this fortress. And no one is coming to get you out." With that, he walked out and slammed the door.

Sighing, Aang tried to get comfortable with his chains. "Come on, Tyrn." He said out loud. "Where are you?"

* * *

Tyrn and the Blue Spirit crept past the guards in the hall, trying to stay silent. Tyrn froze when she heard a muffled thud against one of the walls. The Blue Spirit quickly jumped up to the ceiling, Tyrn airbending herself up as well. The Blue Spirit glanced at her with what she presumed to be surprise, before they both looked down to find Zhao and a guard walking beneath them.

"Stupid airbender." Tyrn's eyes widened when she heard Zhao's muttering. "We'll make sure to keep him barely alive when we're done with him."

As Zhao rounded the corner, the Blue Spirit quickly jumped down and turned to where Aang was being held. Tyrn jumped down as well, and the masked man held up a hand as he peered around the corner. Looking back at her, he held up four fingers, indicating the number of guards. Tyrn nodded, and both of them quickly ran around the corner to assault the guards. The Blue Spirit quickly grabbed the outstretched hand of one guard to toss him over his back onto the ground, and quickly did the same with the other. Tyrn used Aang's staff to airbend up the two guards and slam them into the ceiling, rendering them unconscious.

Aang turned his head to the door when he heard a loud ruckus outside. Raising an eyebrow, he watched as the door slowly opened.

"Aang? You in here?" Aang's eyes widened with joy as Tyrn quickly stepped in.

"Aang!" Tyrn ran over to the chained airbender and gave him a quick hug. "Are you alright?"

If Aang could've shrugged, he would have. "Just chained to a giant fortress crawling with Fire Nation guards. Same old, same old for the Avatar."

Tyrn rolled her eyes as the Blue Spirit walked in. Aang looked at him questioningly as Tyrn spoke. "Can you slice off the chains for him?"

The Blue Spirit gave a slight nod as he unsheathed his swords and quickly slashed at Aang's wrists and ankles, effectively breaking the bonds holding him.

Aang took his staff from Tyrn as they all walked towards the entrance. "Who is that guy?" he asked Tyrn.

"Long story short, he helped me save you, and is going to help us get out." Tyrn quickly responded, following the Blue Spirit into the hallway.

Aang glanced at the struggling and gagged guards as they passed them, and he stopped when he spotted his half frozen frogs. "My frogs!"

Tyrn hurried back to where Aang stood. "Forget about them, we can get some more later!" she took hold of his wrist and dragged him forward.

Jumping underneath the vents of the floor, they quickly made their way to the Blue Spirit's rope on the wall. Taking a quick glance around, the Blue Spirit pointed upwards and jumped out. Tyrn and Aang followed him as they ran over to the rope. Suddenly an alarm rang out, making them all freeze as Zhao yelled over the courtyard.

"The Avatar's escaped! Close all the gates!" Zhao yelled, sending everyone into a frenzy.

The Blue Spirit pulled out his swords and pointed to the main entrance. Everyone sprinted towards it as the guards swarmed them.

"Stay close to me!" Aang yelled, speeding ahead of them to blast a wall of guards out of the way.

Tyrn was ambushed by two solders, dodging their swords and parrying with a fallen spear The Blue Spirit seemed to be having the same trouble. Aang glanced back at the closing doors before gripping his staff. Twirling it around, he blew a powerful gust at the guards surrounding Tyrn and the Blue Spirit, freeing them from their opponents. Aang quickly launched them on top of the wall with his staff, and followed them up by spinning his staff like a helicopter. He quickly grabbed the Blue Spirit as they flew over the next courtyard, Tyrn following them in suit. Kicking aside the spears launched their way, all three of them crash landed on top of the next wall. They all jumped up to find some guards placing bamboo ladders up the wall, climbing up. Each of them getting to a ladder, Aang and Tyrn blew down guard by guard off the ladder, while the Blue Spirit hacked off each soldier as they reached him.

"Here, each of you grab one of these!" Aang said, handing a ladder sideways to Tyrn and the Blue Spirit. Jumping onto his, he started to topple forward. "Jump on my back!"

The Blue Spirit quickly jumped on Aang's shoulders, and Tyrn airbended onto the Blue Spirits. They all started to fall towards the earth.

"Give me the next one!" the Blue Spirit handed one to Aang, who quickly put it down ahead of them and leaped onto to it. They all tried to regain their balance as they leaned forward once again.

"The last one, Tyrn!" Tyrn passed her ladder to Aang, who once again put it down and leaped onto it. Tyrn gasped when she saw one of the guards light the ladder on fire, forcing them to jump for it. Reaching for the edge, Aang only managed to grab it before slipping. Tyrn and Aang screamed as they all plummeted to the ground.

Tyrn jumped up to shield Aang and the Blue Spirit with an air shield as the guards attacked them with ferocious fire blasts.

"Hold your fire!" Zhao commanded, walking up to them. "The Avatar must be captured alive!"

Tyrn restrained a gasp when the Blue Spirit ran up to Aang and placed his swords against Aang's neck. They all stood there, the Blue Spirit and Zhao having a silent war with their eyes.

"Open the gate." Zhao said tersely.

"But sir—" a guard started to ask him.

"Let them out! Now!" he barked. The gates opened behind them, and the three slowly started to walk out.

About halfway down the road, still turned towards the fortress, Tyrn whispered to the Blue Spirit. "They've got a Yu Yan archer aiming at your head, watch out." The Blue Spirit nodded.

Suddenly Tyrn spotted a gleam in the air, and quickly bended a large dust cover as the arrow approached. She cursed when she saw the Blue Spirit fall to the ground unconscious.

Aang stared at the side of the Blue Spirit's mask, which showed a bit of the face hidden underneath. Tyrn looked at Aang silently as he reached over and took off the Blue Spirit's mask, revealing Zuko's scarred face underneath.

Gasping, Aang quickly jumped back at the sight of the prince who has been hunting him down.

Tyrn walked over and grabbed Zuko's shoulders. "We can't leave him here, Aang."

Aang hesitated for a second before nodding. Grabbing the swords and mask, he ran along Tyrn as she carried Zuko on her back, disappearing from the dust cloud and the approaching guards.

Reaching a clearing, Tyrn deposited Zuko onto the ground with a sigh as she rubbed her sore back. "Man, he weighs a ton!"

Aang bended a gust of wind at the trees, sending a pile of leaves to the ground. "Here, roll him over to this pile."

Tyrn quickly rolled Zuko onto the makeshift pad and propped his head up. She looked at Aang. "We do owe him something, even if he's Fire Nation."

Aang nodded. They suddenly glanced at Zuko, who had started to wake up. Dazed, he looked over to Tyrn and Aang.

Tyrn was surprised when Aang suddenly started to talk. "You know what's the worse part about being born a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with." Tyrn furrowed her eyebrows at the sadness in Aang's voice as he continued. "Before the war started, I used to hang out with my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we used to get in and out of so much trouble back then. He was one of my best friends. And he was Fire Nation, just like you." Aang glanced at Zuko as he said this. "If we met each other back then, do you think we could've been friends too?" he asked, looking hopefully at Zuko.

Tyrn cringed when Zuko turned and fire blasted at Aang. She watched as he started to jump away on the branches before turning to look at Zuko, who was holding his head in pain.

"You're going to need to put some ice on that injury before it goes away." she stated. Zuko turned to look at her before looking down.

"How did you know so much about me? And the fortress when we rescued the Avatar?" he asked quietly.

Tyrn hesitated. "It's complicated, but let's just say that I'm not exactly from here." Zuko looked at her questioningly. "Long story short, I was transferred from my world to yours, and I know a lot about your world." She didn't know why she was telling Zuko this, but something in her knew that he wouldn't exactly tell anyone.

Zuko nodded slowly, taking in this new information. "I'm still going to persue the Avatar." he stated.

Tyrn shrugged. "I expected as much. But give us all a break before coming to chase us, we need it because of last night. And we have ill friends who need to recover." Zuko nodded again.

"And…thanks." Zuko looked up. "We owe you one." Seeing Zuko nod in acknowledgment, the young airbender airscootered away to find Aang, leaving the confused prince behind her. She could only faintly hear his response as she rode away.

"...thank you."

Reaching back to their campsite, Tyrn and Aang could only walk tiredly over to Katara and Sokka. Popping a frozen frog into each of their mouths, Tyrn spoke softly. "Suck on these. They'll make you feel better."

Aang walked over to flop onto Appa's tail. Tyrn was busy mopping Katara and Sokka's foreheads when she heard Aang call her.

She walked over to him. "You should get some rest." She smiled when Aang reached out to tiredly hold her hand.

"Thank you for rescuing me." Aang whispered, before falling asleep.

Still smiling, Tyrn gently squeezed his hand before putting it down. She walked back over to the Water Tribe duo.

"Hey Tyrn? How was you and Aang's trip? Did you make any new friends?" Sokka asked around the frog in his mouth.

Thinking back to Zuko in the forest, she only said one, short answer. "Maybe, Sokka. Maybe."

* * *

**Well, Tyrn needed to confront Zuko sooner or later! Did you guys like this chapter? This chapter was more serious than the other ones.**

**Next chapter the Gaang will be back to tackle the Fortuneteller episode! **

**Until then, ciao!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I think I've been keeping you all waiting long enough! In return for waiting so patiently you get an extra long chapter! Tyrn and the Gaang see the Fortuneteller in this chapter. Oh boy, I have so much fun writing with Meng in this one :)**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

Tyrn could only sweat-drop as Sokka glared at a jumping fish in the lake next to them.

"He's taunting us…" Sokka said, running back to grab his fishing pole. "You're so going to be dinner!" he yells, running in after the fish. He tries to throw in the bait, but stops when nothing flies out in front of him. "Hey, where's the fishing line?"

Aang spoke up. "Oh, sorry. I didn't think you would need it Sokka." He said, holding up a knotted macramé necklace.

Sokka slapped his forehead. "Ugh, it's all tangled!"

Jumping up from his spot, Aang protested. "It's not tangled, woven." He turned to Katara. "I made you a necklace, Katara! You know, since you lost your other one…"

Smiling, Katara walked up to him and took the necklace. "Thanks Aang, I love it!"

"That's great Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka said sarcastically.

"I can't see why I can't do both!" Aang shrugged.

Tyrn nudged Sokka. "Um, Sokka? Your dinner is laughing at you." she giggled, pointing at the jumping fish.

Sokka glared at the fish and threw his fishing pole at it. The fish merely jumped over it as Sokka yelled angrily. "Stop taunting me!" He grabbed his dagger and stomped into the water.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "When a fish knows how to taunt you, you know you're too easy of a target." She stopped when she heard Katara speak.

"So, how do I look you guys?" Both of the airbenders turned to Katara, who was modeling her new necklace.

Tyrn showed a small smile when she glanced at Aang, who looked dumbstruck, and then turned to Katara. "It looks great, Katara. The red flower is a little off from your usual necklace, but you can wear it around now without tipping off Fire Nation soldiers."

Katara smiled and twirled in place. "You really think so?"

Tyrn smirked. "I know it. How about your option Aang?" she turned to Aang. "Doesn't she look great?"

Aang snapped out of his trance and pulled nervously at his collar. "You mean, your whole body or just your neck, because both look great!" he stammered. Tyrn only giggled at his scrambled response.

"Smoochy, smoochy! Someone's in loooooove!" Sokka called out. Tyrn glared at him and sent a quick air whip at his head, forcing him to drop his fish. She giggled when the fish came up to smack him in the jaw before disappearing.

Katara glared slightly at Sokka. "Stop teasing him Sokka." she reprimanded, walking up to a blushing Aang. "Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy, just like Momo!"

Tyrn could see the disappointment in Aang's face as Katara petted the lemur on his shoulder. She sighed and walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Aang gave her a slight smile in return.

Everyone turned when a loud roar echoed in their ears. "What was that?" Sokka asked, walking out of the water.

Leaping over the rocks, Tyrn gasped when she saw a man being confronted by a platypus bear. "Over here! That man is being attacked!" she yelled to the others.

The man only gracefully dodged the bear's attacks as the Gaang reached him. "Why, hello there!" he said cheerfully, sidestepping a huge paw. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"What are you doing? Made some noise and run away!" Aang yelled to him.

"No, play dead so he'll lose interest!" Sokka offered his advice at they stared at the man and the platypus bear.

The man only dodged another attack. "Whoa, a close one!" he laughed.

"Run down the hill and climb up a tree!" Katara shouted.

Sokka called out to him. "No! Punch him in the bill!"

"And then run in zigzags!" Tyrn gestured.

The man shook his head. "No need. It's going to be fine." he ducked and spun around as the claws of the bear hit the tree behind him.

Tyrn finally had enough. Jumping in front of the bear, she put out her hand. "Now Appa!" she yelled.

Coming up behind the platypus bear, Appa let out a mighty roar. Tyrn smirked when the platypus bear laid an egg in fright, and then ran away into the river. The rest of the team ran up to where Tyrn stood.

Sokka reached over and grabbed the egg. "Mmm, lunch!" he exclaimed, examining the egg with hungry eyes. He looked over to the traveler. "Lucky for you we came along when we did."

The traveler spun around and stood up. "Thank you, but the situation was already under control. Aunt Wu predicted that I would have a safe journey."

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Aunt Who?"

"No, Aunt Wu!" The travel corrected him. "She is the fortuneteller of my village." He put his hands behind his back. "Awful nice to know your future."

Tyrn nodded. "That's why you acted so calm."

Sokka spoke up. "But you didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!"

"But I wasn't." The traveler smiled. "Alright, I bid you farewell." He turned to leave, but stopped and faced them once again. "I forget to mention, Aunt Wu told me that if I met any travelers to give them this." He handed Aang a wrapped package, and waved them goodbye as he walked away.

Katara thought for a second. "Maybe we should go see this Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. Come on, it might be fun."

Sokka protested. "No way, fortunetelling is just a bunch of nonsense. Besides, we have a fortuneteller right here." He gestured to Tyrn.

Tyrn shook her head. "I don't know, I mainly choose to not to refer to my knowledge. And besides, my knowledge is mainly limited up to when you guys fight the Fire Lord. I don't know anything about you guys after that."

They all looked at Aang when he finished unwrapping the package. "Hey look, an umbrella!" he exclaimed, opening it up.

Katara quickly jumped under the umbrella as it suddenly started to pour. Tyrn just laughed at Sokka, who was getting drenched as he held his egg.

"That proves it!" Katara smiled.

Sokka groaned. "No it doesn't! You can't really tell the future!"

"I guess you're not really getting wet, then!" Tyrn joked.

Aang looked at Tyrn. "Since Sokka's too stubborn to get dry, why don't you come under here, Tyrn?"

Shaking her head, Tyrn smiled as she spun her arms out. "Are you kidding? I love walking in the rain. It's like the angels above are having a water fight!" she grins wider, making an air scooter to ride on. "Besides, that umbrella seems to have reached maximum carrying capacity." she states, winking at Aang.

They all walked along the road as Katara tried to coax her brother to come under the umbrella. "Just admit you might be wrong and you can come under the umbrella."

Sokka stopped walking. "Look, I'm going to predict the future now. It's going to keep raining." A moment of silence. "See?"

Aang, Katara and Tyrn looked up in amazement as the sky suddenly cleared up. "Not everyone has the magic gift, Sokka." Tyrn said, smirking.

Sokka could only groan when Appa shakes his wet fur at him.

* * *

Walking in Aunt Wu's lavish fortunetelling waiting room, Tyrn could only roll their eyes as she recognized the young girl approaching them. _Great, this should be fun._

The girl introduced themselves to the Gaang. "My name is Meng, and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant!" She suddenly stopped when she took a closer look at Aang. "Well hello there!"

Tyrn stifled a sigh as she tried to tune out Meng's lame attempts at flirting. Following the group to the pillows on the ground, she got lost in her thoughts as Meng tried to get to know Aang better. _First Katara, now Meng. Now I know how Aang feels with Katara._

"I can't believe that we're in the house of nonsense." Sokka complained.

Katara lectured to her brother. "Try to have an open mind Sokka. There are things in this world that we just can't explain. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight to your future?"

"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs." Tyrn slapped her forehead at Sokka's one track mind of food.

"Well, you don't need to wait any longer. Meng's coming back." Tyrn pointed to the young girl that approached them. Her eyes widened when she saw the young girl about to fall on top of Aang. Tyrn quickly bended a small gust to lift the girl up. She smirked at the slight glare Meng sent her way.

"Thanks." Meng said, a very slight edge in her voice.

Tyrn smiled back. "You're welcome."

Meng walked away as Aunt Wu stepped out of her room. Walking over to them, she addressed the group. "Ok, who is next? Don't be shy!" Tyrn glanced at Sokka, who was busy eating the bean curd puffs, and at Aang, who was just looking around, before looking at Katara.

Katara stood up. "I guess I'll go first." She walked into the room along with Aunt Wu as Aang stared after her.

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" Aang asked curiously.

Tyrn shrugged. "I think it's most of the stuff they foretell in there: who you're going to fall in love with, how many kids you're going to have, etcetera."

Aang grinned at the mention of love. "I need to…go to the bathroom." He got up.

Smirking, Tyrn waved. "Have fun in there!" Her smiled faded however once Aang disappeared from sight.

Sokka stopped his frantic eating as he looked at her. "You like him, don't you?"

Tyrn jumped at the sudden accusation. "No I don't! What makes you think that?" Tyrn asked, blushing.

Rolling his eyes, Sokka set the bowl of bean curd puffs down. "First of all, your ears are red, so I know you're lying." Tyrn cursed her telltale ears. "Second, to me it's a little bit obvious how you guys are all best friends, and you," he pointed at her while he said this, "want more."

Sighing, Tyrn slumped in defeat. "How is it out of all people it's YOU who confronts me first about this?" She sighed. "It doesn't matter. He gets together with someone else in the TV show anyways. And truthfully, I just want what's best for him and her."

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't mind Aang getting together with Katara?"

Tyrn stared back at him. "You don't mind your sister dating the Avatar?"

The warrior raised his hands. "Hey, I wasn't kidding back at the campsite. Besides, I'm sure I can't exactly murder the Avatar without getting killed myself." Sokka looked at her sympathetically. "You know, you may not be my sister or anything, but I do care about you. We all do."

Tyrn gave him a small smile. "Thanks. That means a lot." She looked up when Aang came back in with a triumphant smirk on his face. She composed her face to look lighthearted as she spoke. "Someone had a good bathroom break."

"Well yeah, there was this—"

Aang was interrupted by Sokka who just put his hands out. "I don't want to know!"

Just then Katara walked out with Aunt Wu, who looked at the group. "Who is next?"

Sokka sighed and stood up. "Fine, let's get this over with." he said, stretching slightly.

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it…self-inflicted." Aunt Wu stated, gazing at Sokka.

"But, you didn't even read my palms or anything!" Sokka held his hands up.

Aunt Wu sighed. "I don't need to. It's written all over your face." Tyrn laughed slightly at Sokka's face when he heard that.

"You then. Come with me." Aunt Wu beckoned Tyrn over, and they walked into the room. Shutting the door, Aunt Wu led Tyrn to a fire on the floor. "You don't seem to be the type for traditional palm reading, so we'll use the bone method."

Tyrn smiled. "This should be interesting, to say the least." She walked over to the bowl and picked up a curled bone with a sharp end.

"Now, sit down here, and throw it into the fire." Aunt smiled at Tyrn. Tyrn hesitated, and then quickly dropped the bone over the flames.

Aunt Wu stared at the bone. "By reading the cracks in the bones, I can tell your destiny." Both of them jumped when two parallel cracks broke out along the bone, splinters leaping from the fire.

"Wow, that was…interesting." Tyrn didn't know what to make of the cracks.

Aunt Wu studied the cracks. "Yes…very interesting indeed. You are to have a role in this war, fighting alongside your friends in the effort to save the world from the Fire Nation."

Tyrn nodded. "I kind of knew that already. Um…what does it say about my relationships in the bone?"

Glancing at her with a smile, Aunt Wu examined the bones. "You seem to be having a great friendship with those around you, but one is giving you pain and happiness at the same time, am I correct?"

Raising an eyebrow, Tyrn looked at her. "It really says that?"

Aunt Wu kept her smile on her face. "Well, sort of. I also saw it in the waiting room. It was hard to see but it wasn't long before I figured it out." Tyrn grinned at her as she continued. "Here is what I advise you to do: give it some time. Everything has its own path to follow, and you must do the same with yours."

Getting up, Tyrn bowed to the old woman. "I thank you for your wisdom."

"Anytime, young child." Aunt Wu waved her goodbye cheerfully.

Walking out of the room, Tyrn had a small smile on her face as they all looked at her. "Well? How did it go?" asked Katara.

Tyrn sat down next to her. "Well, it was more like advice than fortunetelling."

Following Tyrn out of the room, Aunt Wu pointed to Aang. "You there! Come with me." Aang shrugged to Katara and Tyrn as he followed the old woman into the room.

"Oh my gosh, Tyrn! You'll never believe what Aunt Wu told me about my love life!" Katara gushed excitedly to Tyrn as soon as the door closed.

Tyrn smiled as Katara continued. "She said that I'm going to marry a powerful bender! With a great romance to go along with it…" she finished off with a happy sigh. "So, what did she tell you?"

"Well…not really anything specific." Tyrn admitted. "Just that I should give my love life some time."

* * *

"Well, I hope you all realize that fortunetelling is just a big hoax." Sokka stated as they walked out of the fortuneteller's house.

Katara rolled her eyes. "You're just mad because you're going to make yourself unhappy for the rest of your life."

Sokka stopped. "That woman is crazy!" he threw his arms up into the air in exasperation. "My life will be CALM, and HAPPY, and JOYFUL!" he kicked a rock at his last remark and folded his arms.

Tyrn put up a finger. "Wait for it…" Aang and Katara started to laugh when the rock ricocheted off a sign and back at Sokka's head, effectively knocking him to the ground.

Sokka put his finger up as they laughed. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"Right. It totally doesn't prove the fact that your pain and suffering is perfect comedic entertainment for the rest of us!" Tyrn said sarcastically as Aang and Katara finished their laughing with grins on their faces.

They all walked up to the crowd in front of them. "What's going on?" Katara asked the traveler from before.

"We're waiting for Aunt Wu's reading of the clouds. Her predictions will tell the fate of the whole village." he replied.

Pointing at a cloud, Aang spoke. "That cloud looks like a fluffy bunny."

"You'd better hope that's not a bunny. Bunny shaped clouds predict doom and destruction." the traveler crossed his arms.

Tyrn nudged Aang. "That's the weirdest sentence I've heard all day." They both snickered at the comment.

"Aunt Wu will predict if Mt. Makapu will stay dormant this year, or if it will erupt." a lady told them.

"We used to have a tradition of going up the mountain to check ourselves, but ever since Aunt Wu moved to our village twenty years ago, we've had a tradition of not doing that anymore." the traveler smiled, folding his arms.

Sokka glared at him. "You guys really trust your lives to that crazy old woman's superstitions?"

Katara shushed her skeptical brother. "She's coming!" They all watched as the old woman was led up the stairs towards the small stage. Tyrn, Katara and Aang could only cheer lightly along with the others as she bring out her book.

Looking towards the skies, Aunt Wu took in a breath as she spotted a familiar shape. "A bending arrow cloud…" she looked in her book. "Good crops this year. Large, healthy harvest!"

"Yes, good news!" An old man hugged his wife in joy.

"A wavy moon-shaped cloud…" Aunt Wu said thoughtfully. "Going to be a good year for twins!" she said, winking at some twin boys to her right. They high-fived in joy as she looked up at the sky again.

"And a cumulus cloud, with a twisting nub coming off the end of it…" she looked out into the crowd. "The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year!" she proudly proclaimed, raising her arms. Everyone cheered loudly as Aang looked at Katara. Glancing at Tyrn, who gave him a thumbs-up, he approached his crush.

"Hey Katara…there's something I got to tell you." He took in a deep breath as he continued. "I like you, but, more than normal." Aang's face fell when Katara ran towards Aunt Wu, ignoring his little confession. "Never mind…" he said dishearteningly, Momo lowering his ears on Aang's head.

Tyrn walked up to a depressed airbender. "Don't worry Aang, I'm sure you'll have another chance." Aang nodded as the crowd dispersed, Sokka walking up to them.

"Hey, where's Katara?" he asked.

Tyrn shrugged. "She must've gone back to Aunt Wu's."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "I can't believe these saps. Someone needs to shock some sense into them."

"They seem happy Sokka." Aang said, looking around.

"Not for long!" he replied, suddenly grabbing a nearby man. "Hey mister. I bet Aunt Wu told you to wear those red shoes, huh?"

The man smiled and looked at his feet. "Yes, she told me I'll be wearing red shoes when I meet my true love."

Sokka grinned. "And how many times have you worn those shoes ever since you got that prediction?"

"Every day." The man happily replied.

Tyrn could see the flames of Sokka's rage as he ranted. "Then of COURSE it's going to come true!"

"Really?" the mad said excitedly. "Oh gee, I'm so excited!" he commented, walking away.

Sokka angrily kicked a rock out of his way. It struck a goose, which came over and started to peck at his head.

Aang could only watch as Tyrn smirked. "You know Sokka, you should really stop kicking rocks. It could really affect your health." she teased.

The pair just watched as Sokka tried to convince the townsfolk that the readings were fake. Tyrn turned to Aang. "So Aang, how's operation love going?"

Aang sighed. "Well, it just doesn't seem to be working. I tried to confess but she didn't listen."

Tyrn was suddenly shoved aside as Sokka wrapped an arm around Aang's shoulder. "You have love troubles?" He started to walk away as Tyrn stifled her urge to punch him. "You've come to the right place. What can I help you with?"

Sighing, Tyrn turned to walk away and find Katara. Seeing her at a fruit stand, she tapped her shoulder. "Hey Katara! What's up?"

Katara grimaced at the papaya in her hand before looking at Tyrn. "Oh hey. Aunt Wu told me that I should eat a papaya for breakfast tomorrow."

Tyrn raise an eyebrow. "But you hate papaya!" Sighing as she watched Katara glare at the wretched fruit in her hand, then spoke. "You shouldn't let her fortunes decide everything for you. That's just not the way life works."

"You know, you're right!" Katara exclaimed. "But what am I going to do with this papaya?"

Tyrn noticed that Aang showed up behind her. "Oh. Hey Katara, Tyrn." She almost face palmed at his attempt to be aloof. _I need to talk with Sokka later._

"Papaya, huh." Aang stated, glancing at the papaya in Katara's hand.

"Um…yeah you want it?" Katara asked.

Aang casually picked up an apple. "You know me. I don't care what I eat." he states, biting into the apple.

Katara nodded. "Sure…see you later." she waves at Tyrn and Aang before heading off.

Raising an eyebrow, Tyrn smirked when Aang quickly spit out the apple from his mouth. "Well that didn't work…" he said, throwing away the apple.

"You should know better than to follow Sokka's advice on women." Tyrn rolled her eyes. "If you want impress a girl, you should do something like that." She pointed to a lady receiving a panda lily from a suitor.

Aang's eyes widened in understanding, and he quickly ran over to the couple. "Hey mister, where did you get one of those?"

* * *

Climbing on the rocks, Tyrn could only pant as she watched Aang continue above her. "Why the heck did I give you the idea of climbing a volcano for a flower?" she groaned as she got up and airbended herself up to where Aang stood.

Aang shrugged. "Well, you told me to trust your advice."

"I so didn't! I told you to not trust SOKKA'S advice!" she exclaimed.

"Well, your advice is so much better." Aang quickly jumped up to the next rock. "Hey Tyrn. How do you describe falling in love anyways?"

"Asking for more advice, are you?" Tyrn grinned.

Aang grinned. "Yes, Sifu Tyrn of romance."

She chuckled at the title, and then thought for a moment. "Falling in love isn't like a crush: butterflies in your stomach and stuff like that. I think that it's like falling in love with your best friend." she paused as she gripped Aang's hand and pulled herself up to the rock he stood on.

Aang raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, you don't get tongue-tied trying to make a conversation. You don't have him or her on your mind twenty four/seven. You can relate to them like a best friend and be their boyfriend or girlfriend at the same time." Tyrn blushed slightly when she realized she just described how she felt with Aang.

Nodding, Aang smiled at her. "You really do continue to amaze me."

Tyrn smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. Hey look, there's the flower!" she pointed at the rim of the volcano.

Picking a flower, he stopped when he looked up at the volcano. "Oh no."

Walking up beside him, Tyrn gasped at the heat and smoke coming out of the volcano. "Looks like Aunt Wu was wrong."

Aang took out his glider. "It's going to erupt soon! We need to warn them." Turning around, he looked at Tyrn. "Well? Get on my back, it's too slow to walk."

Tyrn prayed that the volcano's bright lava behind her shielded her intense blush as she got on Aang's back. Gripping his neck with her arms, she spoke quickly. "Ok I'm on, let's go!"

Running off the edge of the volcano, Aang and Tyrn flew down the side of the rocks, heading towards the village. Tyrn thought that the ride could've lasted a little longer as they touched down. As they ran towards Katara and Sokka Tyrn could've sworn she saw a light red tinge on Aang's face, but dismissed it from the exhaustion from flying two people.

"Guys, the volcano's going to erupt! Aang and I both saw the lava with our own eyes!" Tyrn exclaimed.

Sokka let out a triumphant whoop as he pointed at Katara. "See? Her fortunetelling is a myth!"

Everyone jumped when they heard a loud explosion come from the top of the volcano. Katara gasped as she saw the smoke coming out of the mountain. "This is no time for that, Sokka! We need to warn the villagers!"

They all headed into the middle of the square and tried to convince the townspeople of the imminent destruction. Sadly, even after repeated attempts to make the people listen to them, it didn't work.

Tyrn jumped down from the roof and reached the Gaang. "This isn't working. They only listen to Aunt Wu!"

"I know, that's the problem." Sokka said, staring at the ground.

Aang slowly started to smile. "Or…it just might become the solution. Guys, we're going to take our fate into our own hands. First, I'll need Aunt Wu's cloud book…"

* * *

Creeping into the room, Aang looked inside a box as Momo chattered next to him. "Shhh! We don't want anyone to hear us!" he shushed the lemur, but he jumped around when he heard footsteps. Aang let out a surprised yell when he found Meng standing behind him.

"Ah! Oh, sorry. I didn't see you there." he said nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Meng looked down. "You don't like me, do you."

"Of course I like you!" Aang protested, oblivious to her other meaning.

"But not the way I like you."

Aang blinked for a second before the oblivious bubble popped in his mind. "Oh…I guess not." he said slowly, looking down as well.

Meng glanced at him. "It's fine! Just…it's hard when you like someone, but they don't like you the same way."

"I know what you mean." Aang said sadly.

"She's beautiful, by the way." Meng added.

Aang blushed and looked up. "Huh?"

Meng shrugged. "That airbender girl you hang out with. She's funny, a bender, and her hair is so manageable." She pulled her braids down and let them bounce up for effect.

Aang shook his head quickly. "Oh, no no! Not Tyrn, she's just my best friend. Katara's the one I like."

Meng raised an eyebrow. "Really? Huh. I kinda thought you and Tyrn were acting, the way you guys seem so compatible together. But Katara seems nice." She looked down sadly. "I wish I could find a guy like that."

Walking over to her, Aang put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry, you'll find a guy that will love you for who you are, I promise." He started to walk away.

"Wait! Don't you want this?" Aang turned to find Meng holding out the cloud book.

Aang took the book from her. "How did you know I needed this?"

Meng blushed and poked her two index fingers together. "I've…kind of been stalking you. Heheh!"

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Oh. That's…cool, I guess."

* * *

Flying into the clouds, Tyrn looked at the cloud book in front of her. Aang told them his plan as they flew upwards. "Since clouds are made of air and water, you girls should be able to bend them into any shape we want!"

Tyrn let out a small yell as she found what she was looking for. "I found it! The symbol for volcanic doom!" She set out the book on the floor of the saddle as she and Katara stood up. Slowly moving their hands back and forward, they bended the air around them as Aang drove Appa around. Trailing the mist behind them, Tyrn watched as the marshmallow-looking clouds around them swirled into the symbol they were trying to make. Flying back from the sky, Katara and Tyrn stared in amazement at the skull-like face they created in the clouds.

"We should've made the bunny symbol." Tyrn joked. "Both of them mean the same thing."

Landing in the square, they saw that Sokka had already rounded up some benders and people with shovels, digging a trench up before the village. Joining them, Aang and Tyrn helped blow away the debris as everyone quickly dug a trench, stretching all the way across the village's front. Appa had just flown away with the last load of rocks when everyone heard an explosion so loud, it almost made them fall over.

"Everyone needs to evacuate! We'll come for you when it's safe!" Tyrn yelled. As everyone else fled, the Gaang watched as the lava approached the village. Horror reflected on everyone's faces as the lava filled the trench.

"It's too much, it's going to overflow!" Katara exclaimed.

Another explosion rocked the area, spilling heat and ash into the air. Katara and Sokka ran back as Tyrn started to jump into the air. Building up a twister on both of her hands, she quickly started to bend the ash around her, sending the wind power down to Aang. Gathering the wind sent from Tyrn, Aang swung out his arms and let out a powerful gust, sending it all around the trench. The air rapidly cooled the lava, making a sort of crown around the village. Landing beside him, both Aang and Tyrn moved their hands in a resting position, completing the airbending technique.

Sokka and Katara just watched in awe as they saw the work of the two airbenders. "Wow. Sometimes I forget how powerful of a bender Aang is."

Katara's eyes widened at Sokka's statement. "What did you say?"

Sokka shrugged. "Nothing. Just how Aang's a powerful bender. Tyrn too, I guess."

Katara slowly processed Sokka's comment on Aang. "Yeah…I guess he is."

Walking down from the trench's edge, Aang wrapped an arm around Tyrn. "You know, I think we've put off your master's test a little too long. That was really something back there."

Tyrn blushed modestly. "Oh, you think?"

Aang nodded. "Next time we camp out, we're going to hold your master's test, okay?"

Tyrn broke out into a grin. "Okay, but you're going down!"

Aang rolled his eyes. "In your dreams."

"Hey Aang!" The two broke off contact with each other when Katara tackled Aang in a hug. "That was some great airbending!" Tyrn smiled at Aang's happy face as he hugged her back.

Sokka came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You alright Tyrn?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." she turned and walked over to Meng. "Hey Meng. Take care, okay? And sorry about the falling thing earlier."

Meng smiled. "Yeah, it's ok. You saved me from just an embarrassing moment. And just for the record, you better take care of Aang, got it?"

Tyrn looked at her in surprise. "Shouldn't you be saying that to Katara?"

"Well, I may not be like Aunt Wu, but I don't need fortunetelling to know that you and Aang should get together." Meng smirked at Tyrn's blush.

"Please, Aang's just my best friend. Nothing more, and nothing less." Tyrn turned to find the Gaang waving her over. "I got to go. Thanks for you advice, I guess." The two girls gave each other a quick hug, and then Tyrn ran over to Appa and jumped on.

"Take care, Meng." Katara said kindly.

Meng just smiled and waved. "Take care!" Tyrn caught the wink that Meng sent her way. As they flew off Tyrn could just hear the comment that Meng muttered under her breath.

"Katara's such a floozy."

Katara and Sokka looked at Tyrn weirdly, who had started into a fit of giggles. "What's so funny?"

Tyrn stopped giggling and just smiled. "Inside joke." She suddenly airbended herself over to where Aang sat. Grabbing something from her pocket, she tapped his shoulder.

The young airbender spun around to see Tyrn sitting next to him. "Hey Tyrn! What'cha doing?"

She grinned as she produced the thing from her pocket. "You left something back at the volcano."

Aang's eyes widened when he saw the panda lily in her hand. "The flower!"

Tyrn nodded. "Just make sure it gets some water everyday and it will last until you get the guts to confess to Katara...again." she joked.

Taking the flower from her hand, Aang smiled up at her. "I'm glad you're in my corner with this romance stuff, Sifu Tyrn."

Tyrn just smiled back and went back to her spot. Grabbing her iPod, she sadly looked at Aang and Katara, laughing at Sokka's hatred for fortunetelling as she put in her earbuds. _Aunt Wu, I hope I don't have to wait too long. _She thought.

* * *

**I always thought that Meng was sort of cool, even if she stalks people :D You know, it's getting harder to write Aang and Tyrn's relationship at this best friends stage...**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! Let me know what you guys think, okay? Next chapter we'll meet Bato of the Water Tribe!**

**Until then, ciao!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ok, I need to work on this procrastination thing, because it's been 4 days since my last post! I'm so sorry about not posting sooner, and I thank everyone who reviewed it while waiting! In this chapter we find ourselves in the Bato of the Water Tribe episode! I hope you all like it!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

"Come one, come all! It's the match of the century!" Sokka yelled into his cupped hands. The group had been flying for a few days before finally setting up camp. As promised, Aang and Tyrn were about to go through with the customary airbender test for Tyrn's shot at the master's title. Katara, Appa and Momo cheered/roared/chattered as they sat to the side of the mock arena.

Stretching her legs on one end of the field, Tyrn looked up and grinned as she did a quick wave to her friends as Sokka continued. "Today is the master's test for our friend and airbender, Tyrn Song! For her test she must use all of her skills and whatever amount of quick wits she many have…"

"I have enough to outwit you!" Tyrn called out to Sokka.

Glaring slightly at her, Sokka resumed his announcer's voice. "…to land a hit on her opponent before her opponent does the same to her! Since with have no other airbenders in the area at this time, Tyrn will have to go up against the only option we have!" Sweeping his hand to the opposite side of the field, Sokka pointed to the young monk sitting on an air scooter. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Aang, the Avatar himself!"

The crowd of three cheered even louder as Aang hopped off his scooter and waved. Grinning as Katara waved back, he turned to his student across the field. "You ready to do this, Tyrn?"

Stretching her arm over her back, Tyrn swung her arm back around and hopped in place excitedly. "Let's go!"

Sokka looked at the two airbenders before speaking. "This will be a fair match between Tyrn and Aang. Aang is not allowed to use waterbending in this battle, and is not allowed to use his glider since we only have one." Both teens nodded as they got into a neutral stance.

"Begin!"

Tyrn quickly dodged an air kick aimed at her abdomen as she leaped into the air. Quickly approaching her, Aang started to send multiple air punches at Tyrn as she somersaulted halfway into her jump. Landing a couple feet away from Aang, she quickly forms two air whips around her arms and launches them at Aang. Forming an air shield, the air whips bounces off the avatar's shield. Aang flew at Tyrn; small air gusts propelling him forward from his hands as he broke through his shield. Tyrn gasped and dropped her air whips as she ducked, going almost completely parallel to the ground as Aang passed over her.

Tyrn hopped up and let out a shriek as she turned to find Aang grinning at her only inches away. Jumping away from him before he could land a hit, she glared slightly at him.

The dance continued on for about ten more minutes, each dodge more precarious than the last. Katara and Sokka watched anxiously as the two stood there, panting slightly.

Tyrn panted as she stood up from her latest attack. "You ready to give up, yet?" Aang asked.

She shook her head. "No way!"

Shrugging, Aang started to swirl a large bubble around his form. Tyrn struggled to see him as the bubble swirled faster and faster, soon becoming opaque. Finally having enough, Tyrn whirled her arm and flung a precise air swipe at the bubble, breaking it on contact.

She raised an eyebrow as the bubble disappeared to show no Aang inside. "Where the heck did he go?" she asked, looking around.

Sokka just looked up and tapped Katara's shoulder. Looking at her brother, Katara followed his gaze and gasped. The two Water Tribe siblings just watched Aang flew down from the sky, landing on the unsuspecting airbender.

"Ouch, that's got to hurt." Sokka stated, wincing as a large dust cloud swirled around the field. The dust cleared as the two gasped at what they saw. Tyrn was on the ground, panting once again as Aang had a hand on her back.

"Looks like I win." Aang said. Moving to hold out his hand, he helped Tyrn into a standing position as Katara and Sokka made their way over to the two airbenders.

Katara gave Tyrn a hug. "You did really well." she said sincerely.

Sokka nodded excitedly. "Yeah, did you see how you did the trapeze jump on that one move, it was so freaking awesome!" The warrior did some bad imitations and sound effects of his view of the fight.

"Not close enough." Tyrn looked a little downcast. "I should've seen that last move coming."

Aang put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't feel bad. You really were close to beating me." He said. "You can always retry your test. It took a couple tries for me to get my master's title."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're just lying to make me feel better."

Aang shook his head. "Not lying, it's true. Even if I'm the Avatar I'm a twelve year old kid first." he grinned at the last part.

Tyrn was silent for a moment before giving Aang a small smile. "Thanks."

"Hey guys, check this out!" Everyone turned to look at Sokka, who was kneeling on the ground. Grabbing something out of the ground, he held out the item to them. "Check out what got blown out from the dust cloud."

Taking the object into her hand, Katara studied the small dagger. "It's made out of a whale's tooth. It must be from the Southern Water Tribe, then."

Tyrn could see Sokka's excitement at the mention of their home. "Search the area! We might find something."

Everyone split up and started searching. Aang stuck his head in a bush as Katara and Sokka searched the ground. Sokka picked up a small arrowhead. Feeling the tip, he showed it to Katara. "Look, it's burnt."

Walking around the trees, Tyrn put a hand on a trunk with black marks on them. _Fire Nation. _She thought grimly. "Hey guys!" They all turned to look at her. "I think I know what happened."

Sokka ran up to her. "Fire Nation soldiers were ambushed by Water Tribe warriors, am I right?" he asked hopefully.

Tyrn nodded, pointing down the hill. "The battle seems to have gone that way. Come on!" she beckoned Katara and Aang to follow as Tyrn and Sokka ran down the hill.

Reaching the beach, Sokka looked to the right and saw something that astounded them. "Katara, look!"

When the others reached them Katara gasped in shock. "It's a Water Tribe boat!" Running over to it, they gazed in wonder at the marooned boat in front of them.

Sokka walked up to it and felt the helm of the boat. "Is it Dad's?" he heard Katara ask.

He shook his head. "No, but it's from his fleet." He smiled at Katara. "Dad was here."

Tyrn smiled at the happy and hopeful siblings. "Well, it's getting late. We should set up camp." she stated, looking out to the setting sun.

"Yeah, I'll go and get Appa." Aang piped up. He ran back towards their field, Tyrn following him as Katara and Sokka continued to look at their boat.

* * *

After sitting there, trying to get some sleep for what seemed like hours, Tyrn finally got up from her perch on Appa's back and looked down at the others. Not surprised to see Sokka up, she slid down one of Appa's many legs and tip toed over, not wanting to wake Katara or Aang.

Sokka was still lost in his thoughts when he heard someone speak. "Hey, Sokka?" He jumped when he saw the 12 year old girl in front of him.

"Oh, hey Tyrn! What are you doing up?" he asked.

Tyrn shrugged. "I could ask you the same question." she stated, sitting down next to him. "I can't sleep. You?"

Sokka stared into the fire. "Just…thinking."

"You mean about when your dad left?" Sokka looked at her in shock, but relaxed when Tyrn tapped her head. "TV, remember?"

He leaned back with a sigh. "It's just…I really miss him. It's been years since I last saw him."

Tyrn was silent as she thought over her next few words. "He looked like he really cared about you." She glanced at Sokka. "Is it wrong for me to know these things?"

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"Just…your memories." Tyrn sighed. "I feel like I'm invading on your privacy."

The warrior just shook his head. "It's actually nice, you know…to have someone who knows what you've been through." He smiled a little. "It's kind of a relief."

Both of them were quiet, listening to the sound of the waves and crackling fire. Tyrn stiffened slightly when she heard footsteps behind them. Whipping around, she loudly whispered. "Who's there!"

Sokka stood up and held out his boomerang, but he froze when he heard the person's voice.

"Sokka?" From the shadows stepped a tall man, his left shoulder heavily bandaged. What struck Tyrn the most was his Water Tribe clothing.

"Bato?" Sokka exclaimed, and then his face lit up as he took in the man in front of him.

Tyrn turned to find Katara and Aang waking up from Sokka's outburst. "Who the what now?" Aang sleepily asked, making Tyrn giggle slightly from his cluelessness.

Katara gasped when she saw Bato standing there. "Bato!" she exclaimed, running to give him a big hug.

Sokka followed her to give his own hug as Bato laughed heartily. "Katara, Sokka! It is so good to see you two. You've grown so much." He looked up and saw Tyrn and Aang walking over.

Aang bowed to Bato. "Hi, I'm Aang."

"And I'm Tyrn." Tyrn waved slightly.

Katara turned back to Bato. "Why are you here? Is Dad here?"

Bato shook his head. "No, he and the other warriors should be in the eastern Earth Kingdom by now." Sokka and Katara looked saddened by the news.

Everyone shook a little when a cold wind passed by. "It's too cold out here for a reunion. Come along inside so we can talk." Bato stated, waving at Tyrn and Aang to follow.

Running back to grab Appa and Momo, Tyrn followed the others to a small abbey. Bato explained as they walked. "After I was wounded your father dragged me to this abbey. The sisters who live here have taken care of me ever since." They walked up to three women in robes. "Superior, these are Hakoda's children. They are traveling with the Avatar and his friend." Bato proudly introduced his friend's kids to the elderly nun.

The head nun bowed to the four of them. "Great Avatar, I am humbled to meet you. It gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our abbey."

Aang bowed right back. "Thank you so much. If there's anythi—" He was interrupted when Sokka spoke up.

"What's that smell?" he asked curiously. "It smells really good."

Bato gestured to the pots around them. "The sisters make perfumes and ointments."

Sokka grinned. "Really? Maybe we should dump some on Appa. You know, because he smells so bad. Am I right?" he held his hands out, expecting applause.

You could almost hear a cricket in the silence that followed as all of them stared at Sokka.

Bato just raised an eyebrow at Sokka. "You have your father's wit."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Sure…wit. Let's leave it at that." she muttered sarcastically.

Bato smiled slightly at her statement before turning to his small hut. Opening the door, Katara and Sokka gasped at the inside.

"Oh Bato! It looks just like home!" Katara exclaimed. They all walked inside and gazed at the various animal skins and Water Tribe decorations.

"Yeah, nothing says home like a couple of dead animal skins." Aang said hesitantly, glancing at the fur skins. Momo jumped down and pawed at a slightly open bear head. Tyrn turned around and laughed slightly when the bear's jaws snapped down, scaring Momo out of this wits and sending him up and around her shoulder.

Katara knelt down and took off the lid of a pot over a fire. "No way. Stewed sea prunes?" she sniffed the air as the smell wafted out.

Sitting down next to them, Bato gave them some bowls. "Help yourself!"

Sokka took a full bowl and sighed happily. "Dad could eat a whole barrel of these things." he commented.

Handing Aang a bowl, Tyrn watched as he cautiously sniffed the bowl, and then tries to stifle a gag. Looking at her own bowl, she sat down next to him as Katara started to reminisce about life back in the village.

"Bato, is it true that you and dad lassoed an arctic hippo?" Tyrn sighed as she sat back, placing her bowl to the side.

Aang spoke up. "I ride animals, too! One time there was this giant eel—"

Sokka stopped his loud slurping to interrupt Aang once again. "So who was it that started the whole blubber fiasco?"

Bato chuckled. "You knew about that?'

"Everyone does!" Katara grinned.

Aang and Tyrn looked at each other and shrugged. "What was that story?" Tyrn asked.

Sokka absently waved her off. "It's a long one, I'll tell you later."

"You know…" They all turned to Bato. "There is a chance you two will see your father."

Katara and Sokka looked at him excitedly. "Really?" "When?"

"Any day now. Your father said that he would send a letter with a rendezvous point. If you wait here until the message arrives, you can come with me to see your father.

Tyrn glanced at Aang, whose eyes were wide.

"It's been over two years since we've seen Dad." Sokka said, waving with his hands. "That would be incredible! Katara?"

Katara nodded. "It would be nice to see Dad again."

Aang made to get up, but Tyrn stopped him. Shaking her head, she nodded over to the others as they continued their conversation.

Sokka spoke again. "But we can't. We need to take Aang to the North Pole."

Katara looked a little saddened at the fact as she talked. "Even if we could wait for the message, who knows how long it would take for us to travel. We just don't have time for a long detour." She turned around and gave Aang a small pat on the hand as she smiled at him.

Aang smiled back as Bato spoke. "Your dad will understand. And I'm sure he'll be proud that his children are helping the avatar."

Tyrn got up. "Well, it's getting a little late. Katara and Sokka, you guys can stay here and talk with Bato. I know you really want to catch up." Sokka smiled at her as she continued. "I'm going to head outside. Aang, you coming with?"

Aang nodded and stood up. Both of them waved at the three Water Tribe members as they walked out.

Bato watched them go. "Your friend Tyrn there seems to be a kind girl."

"She really is special." Katara said thoughtfully.

* * *

Tyrn sat on the beach as Aang came up beside her. Smiling at him, she turned back towards the calming sea.

The two of them sat in silence before Aang decided to speak. "Thanks for holding me back in the hut."

"No problem. I figured I would save all of us from the drama in this episode." Tyrn shrugged.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Tyrn laid back on the sand. "You would've walked out before Katara and Sokka declined Bato's invitation, taken the map and hid it from the others, causing you tremendous guilt until you finally crack." Aang just raised an eyebrow as she continued. "Katara and Sokka get mad and you guys split up, but then they realize how wrong it was for you guys to split and they come back, and everyone's all whoop-de-doo happy again."

Aang just chuckled. "That doesn't seem like fun."

"No kidding. The fans thought that the episode was the least liked one besides another episode that I'm not going to tell you about." Tyrn smirked.

"Fair enough." Aang grinned back.

The two looked up when they saw an ostrich running towards them. Getting up, Tyrn peered through the darkness to see a young messenger on board. "Do either of you know Bato?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah, we do."

The messenger handed them the message. "Make sure he gets this." He glanced at Tyrn before turning to get a full on look at her. "Wait, is your name Tyrn?"

Tyrn looked mystified. "Um, yeah. Why?"

The messenger turned to his bag and dug out another scroll. "I was asked to deliver this to you." Receiving the message, Tyrn turned it in her hand as the messenger whipped the reins of his ride, carrying him away.

Aang looked at the scroll in hand. "What's this?" he opened it to find the map. "It's the map to Katara and Sokka's dad!"

Tyrn nodded. "We'd better get it to them."

Aang pointed at the scroll Tyrn was holding. "What's yours?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, it's too dark for me to read. We better go inside."

Both of them quickly air scootered back to the hut, laughing along the way. They both jumped off their spheres and tried to restrain their laughter as they rested for a second.

"I so beat you!"

"Stop flattering yourself, I got here a second before you!" Both of them teased each other as they walked inside the hut.

Katara and Sokka looked up at the two laughing airbenders. "Hey guys! What are you doing back?" Katara asked.

Aang walked over to Bato and handed him the map. "This came for you."

Surveying the map, Bato nodded in conformation. "Yes, this is the map to your father." He was silent for a second before handing the map to Sokka. "You kids keep it. I know where it is now. You can use it to find your father later if you want, I'll leave a message at the rendezvous point."

Sokka fingered the map a little before putting it in his pocket. "Thanks Bato."

Bato stood up. "I'm going back to my boat to get something. I'll be right back." he said, leaving the warm interior of the hut.

Katara spotted the scroll in Tyrn's hand. "What'cha got there, Tyrn?"

Walking over to her, Tyrn sat down next to Katara and opened it up. "I don't know." She studied the scroll. "I can't read it, it's not in English."

Sokka looked over their shoulder. "What do you mean, I can read it clearly."

Tyrn shrugged. "You guys speak English but write in Chinese. I can't read Chinese, I'm only like, 1/4th Chinese in my blood."

"Wait, so this whole time you haven't been able to read anything?" Aang asked incredulously.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Yes, is it that bad? Sokka, can you read it for me?"

He nodded and started to read. His eyes widened slightly at the message. _No way… _He glanced at Katara, who was shocked as well at the message on the scroll.

"Well? What is it?" Sokka jumped at an impatient Tyrn, who was tapping her foot anxiously.

"Um…well…" he stammered.

Katara quickly cut in. "It's a message from this girl named Bella. She knows about how you got into our world, Tyrn." Tyrn gaped at Katara as she continued. "She thinks she can help."

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "How does she know about it? We only told a certain amount of people."

Looking over their shoulder, Aang tapped Tyrn. "Uh, I think Bumi did."

"What?" Tyrn asked, looking at the scroll.

"Yeah, there's his signature on the very bottom of the scroll." Aang pointed. "So much for not telling anyone…" he muttered.

"It's fine, I'm sure he just had our best interests at heart. Where is she?" Tyrn asked excitedly.

"At the North Pole." Sokka stated.

Tyrn bounced excitedly. "That means I can meet her when we get there, right?"

Sokka, Aang and Katara smiled at Tyrn's excitement. "That's right."

"Sweet!" Tyrn exclaimed. "Finally, some answers!"

* * *

Yet another fire blast rocked across the clearing as Aang ran across the rooftops of the courtyard. The familiar Prince Zuko jumped up onto the roof and followed him, as Tyrn tried to help out.

"Hey Queen of the Jerks! Over here!" Tyrn yelled, smirking when Zuko glared at her. She was satisfied when her air whip promptly sent him off the edge of the roof, slamming him into the stone. Jumping down, she screamed when he lashed multiple fire punches at her, making her bend backwards as the flames nearly singed her bangs. Tyrn groaned as she stood back up straight again, feeling her spine crack.

Aang worked Zuko over to the well, where he noticed Katara's necklace dangling from Zuko's wrist. He glared at the prince. "You have something I want." he stated angrily.

Zuko started to punch at him repeatedly as Aang climbed all over the well, dodging every fire punch. He gasped when the furious prince knocked out the small roof covering the well and jumped onto the ledge.

Glancing at Aang and Zuko, who were precariously fighting while trying not to fall into the well, she hurried over to Sokka and Katara. Grabbing the debris off of Sokka's groaning form, she then quickly hauled Katara and Sokka over to the Nun Superior, who waved a small perfume beneath their noses. Tyrn smiled when the two siblings regained movement of their limbs.

Sokka looked at the carnage the shirshu was creating. "That thing sees with its nose, so let's give it something to see."

"We're going to make dirt smell like a fresh garden of daises?" Tyrn smirked. Sokka nodded with a smirk of his own.

While Sokka and Katara went along with the nuns to pour out the perfume, Tyrn ran over to Appa with a bottle of the stuff that gave back movement from paralysis. Waving the scent under Appa's giant nose, Tyrn grinned when Appa slowly got back up. "Good to see you up, boy." Appa groaned in appreciation. Turning around, she saw the shirshu was acting crazy, lashing out at anyone in its way. She screamed when the shirshu turned to her and snarled, lashing its tongue out at her. But Tyrn never felt the sting of its tongue. She gaped in shock as Aang tackled her from the side, knocking her away from the blinded shirshu.

"Hey, you ok Tyrn?" Aang asked, concerned as he helped her up.

Tyrn nodded. "Thanks."

Katara and Sokka ran over to them. "Guys, let's beat it!" Aang and Tyrn nodded as they all ran onto Appa, flying away from the courtyard.

Tyrn waved to the nuns as they flew farther and farther away, grinning at the sight of Iroh feigning paralysis to hold a furious June. Turning around to the others, she giggled. "Well that was interesting."

Sokka snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. I got dumped on by a ton of roof tiles."

"At least you smell fresh, right?" Katara teased him.

Aang smiled. "Hey Katara. Are you missing something?"

Katara raised an eyebrow at him as Tyrn smirked. "What do you mean? I didn't lose anything."

"Oh, so I guess you aren't looking for...this?" With that, Aang proudly presented Katara's lost necklace.

Sokka gaped at the sight of his mother's necklace as Katara took it with joy. "Oh Aang, how did you find it?" she said happily as she put it on.

Aang shrugged playfully. "Zuko told me to give it to you."

Katara grinned and played along. "Aw, that's so sweet! Would you give him a kiss for me?"

"Sure!" he replied, and Katara kissed him on the cheek. Tyrn smiled at the shy look that Aang now had on his face as he twiddled his thumbs in embarrassment. She gave him a silent thumbs up as he blushed.

"Hey Tyrn?" she looked at Katara. "Since I got my necklace back, do you want the one that Aang made for me? I mean…" Katara looked at Aang. "If it's alright with you."

Aang nodded. "I don't mind."

With his confirmation, Tyrn took the red flower necklace from Katara. "Thanks Katara!" she said, putting it on.

"Now we match." Katara smiled.

Tyrn smiled back as she fingered the woven necklace, and as they flew off to their destination, she couldn't help but wish that Aang made it for her in the first place.

* * *

**I always wondered what happened to Katara's necklace from Aang... well, I'll try to post another chapter as soon as I can. School starts next week so I'll put out as much as I can until then! The next time we meet Tyrn and the Gaang will be the Deserter episode!**

**Until then, ciao!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hooray! It's the moment you've all been waiting (and waiting...and waiting...) for! THE NEW CHAPTER IS UP! *cue ballons and streamers* Thank you to everyone who reviewed my story since the last time I posted, which was about...two weeks ago? Yikes! Well, wait no further, I have conquered the hills of writer's block and procrastination and succeeded in putting up a new chapter! In this one Tyrn and the Gaang are now in the Deserter episode. Is that drama I hear?**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever. HOWEVER I do own Tyrn :)**

* * *

"This should give us a good idea of what's around here." Katara said as she gazed at the colorful poster in front of her. Tyrn looked at the picture and raised an eyebrow. It was a picture of a dragon flying over a palace with flames all around it. _Huh, when they said it was the FIRE Nation they weren't kidding._

Sokka shook his empty bag. "See if you can find a menu around here, I'm starving."

Tyrn ran over and grabbed the bag from his hand. "That was my cheese puffs from my bag!" She exclaimed, examining the bag before she glared at him.

He backed away slowly. "Hey, I'm sorry! You know how hungry I get!"

Annoyed, Tyrn blew an air whip that hit the back of Sokka's knees, forcing him to the ground.

Sokka groaned as Tyrn dusted herself off. "No fair, non-bender over here!"

Rolling her eyes, Tyrn scoffed. "You should have thought of that when you ate my sacred cheese puffs." Tyrn held out her hand to help Sokka up anyways as she said this.

They both walked over to Katara and Aang, who were examining the poster from before. "I bet we can find something to eat here!" He read the bottom of the poster. "The Fire Days Festival: fire nation cultural exhibits, benders, magicians…" he looked at Katara. "This would be a great chance to study some real firebending!"

"You might want to rethink that." Sokka commented, looking at the other side of the stand. "Check this out."

Tyrn raised an eyebrow at the wanted poster as Aang took it. "I've gotta say, they did a good job on the picture. Do they have paparazzi in this world?" She shook her head when the others looked at her weirdly. "Never mind."

Katara came up to them and glanced at the drawing of Aang. "I think we should move on."

"But I have to learn firebending at some point!" Aang protested. "This might be my only chance to study the masters up close!"

"I'm sure it won't be the LAST time we'll have an opportunity like this, right Tyrn?" Sokka and Katara turned to Tyrn.

The 12 year old hesitated. "Well…I don't know. It sounds like it could be fun."

Aang cheered. "Then let's go!" he grabbed Tyrn's wrist and headed towards the festival grounds. Sokka and Katara just shook their heads as they followed them.

Tyrn turned to Appa and Momo when they reached the cliff. "You guys need to stay here and out of sight until we get back."

Momo seemed to understand her as he dove into a nearby bush. Appa just rumbled quietly as he moved to hide behind it. Tyrn stifled a giggle as the others got out their disguises.

Katara and Sokka quickly donned a black cloak as Tyrn got out the brown cape from her bag. They all smiled at how they looked before they turned to Aang.

"You seem like a whole different person." Sokka noted sarcastically as Katara and Tyrn giggled. Aang had only pulled the back of his shirt up so it covered his bald little head.

"Let's go!" With that, they all headed into the heat of the Fire Nation celebration.

* * *

With a sigh, Tyrn once again tugged on the annoying mask in front of her face. "I hate these disguises. It's like having a giant hand suffocating your face." She stated irritatedly. The group had just found some masks to blend in with the crowd and was now walking around the grounds.

"You don't look that bad." Aang stated. "It only covers your eyes."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I could be like the clown who scares small children like Sokka."

"Hey!"

Aang pointed to a stand in front of them. "Look, there's some food."

Sokka ran towards it. "Finally!" He ran up to the vendor. "What do you have?"

The vender handed him a small container of steaming flakes. "Flaming fire flakes, best in town."

"I'll take them!" Sokka grabbed the food and started to shovel it into his mouth. "Mmm, mmm…AAHH!" He tore off his mask and started to try to cool his flaming tongue. "Hot, hot!"

His sister just crossed her arms. "Flaming fire flakes. Hot. What do you know."

Tyrn turned and saw a small puppet show. She cringed when the Fire Lord puppet breathed fire onto an earthbender behind him. "Who knew that the Fire Nation encouraged violence among little kids?" She remarked sarcastically. She felt a tugging on her arm as Katara led her to where Aang and Sokka stood. "Where are we going?"

Her airbending tutor shrugged. "I don't know, but since there's a huge crowd so I think it's good."

"Knowing the Fire Nation, it must be an execution." Sokka said. Tyrn snickered as they got to the front of the crowd.

Aang gasped as the magician made a giant fireball that dissipated into a few doves, which flew over the crowd as they cheered. "That was so cool! I want to learn how to do that!"

Nudging him in the side, Tyrn grinned at Aang. "We need to train you fight the Fire Lord, not throw small birds at him!" she whispered.

The magician stepped up to the edge of the stage. "Thank you! For my next trick, I need a volunteer from the audience."

"Mememememememe!" Tyrn and Sokka both tried to shush an enthusiastic Aang.

The man surveyed the crowd. "How about you, little lady?" He pointed at Tyrn.

Tyrn tried to decline his offer as the crowd encouraged her on. "No thanks. Hey Katara, why don't you go?" She turned to Katara who was whistling.

Tyrn was pushed onto the stage as Aang crossed his arms. "Aw, that could have been me."

The magician led Tyrn to a chair. "This next trick is called 'Taming the Dragon'!" He proclaimed. "You are going to be my captured princess." He sat Tyrn down.

"Why kind of idiot princess gets captured?" Tyrn asked rhetorically. "I'll pass on the rope, thank you." She crossed her arms, mouth in a slight frown.

The magician scratched his head. "Um…okay!" He drew the fire from the torches around the stage and formed a fiery dragon. He directed it around, making it whoosh just inches above the crowd. "Don't worry, fair maiden! I'll tame this beast." The magician bended a rope that encircled the dragon's head as it flew. It did a graceful loop in the air as he shouted. "It's too much! I can't hold it!"

Tyrn saw Aang try and make a move towards her, and shook her head slightly at him as Katara and Sokka pulled him back.

"The rope is breaking!" The magician made his rope of fire disappear, and the dragon rushed towards Tyrn.

The airbender was frozen with fear as it approached her. "AHHH!" She yelled, shutting her eyes.

* * *

Sokka laid back on his mat in the small and dark hut. "Well, I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight!" he stated, quickly falling into dream land. The group had exposed their identities at the festival, and had successfully run away with a man named Chey, who knew a man who could teach Aang firebending.

Katara just shook her head at her brother. "It never ceases to amaze me how fast he falls asleep." She turned to Tyrn, who was quietly sitting on her mat. "You've been awfully quiet since the festival. Are you alright Tyrn?"

She fiddled with the object in her hands. "I guess. Except my iPod is officially deceased." She held it up. "The battery died. And since this world doesn't have a charger or an electrical outlet, I can't use it anymore."

Aang and Katara looked at her sympathetically. They both knew how important the iPod was to Tyrn, since it was one of the only things that reminded her of home. That, and it was in her hand in every free moment they had.

All three of them looked up as Chey walked in. "Well? Can I see Jeong-Jeong now?" Aang asked eagerly.

Chey slumped down to the floor with a sigh. "He won't see you. He's very angry that I've brought you here. You are to leave immediately."

"Finally!" Tyrn jumped a little at Sokka's sudden outburst. "Let's hit the road."

"Why won't he see me?" Aang asked.

"He says you're not ready. He says that you haven't master waterbending and earthbending yet."

Aang looked at Chey strangely. "Wait…how does he know that?"

Chey looked back at him. "He saw the way you walked into camp. He can TELL."

Raising an eyebrow, Tyrn was quiet for a moment. "That's totally not creepy." she said slowly.

Aang got up determinedly. "I'm going to see him anyway."

Katara, Tyrn and Chey watched as the avatar walked through the flap. "You do realize that it's a bad idea for him to see Jeong-Jeong, right?" Chey asked.

"I'm not sure." Katara replied. "I mean, he being the Avatar must give him an exception. There isn't a particular order of mastering the elements."

"No." Katara and Chey looked at Tyrn. "This isn't going to work. I'll talk to Jeong-Jeong after Aang is done, if he can't convince him. And I don't think that he will."

The minutes passed as the three of them waited. Tyrn almost nodded off before she jerked her head up as the flap moved. She noted Aang's depressed face as he sat down.

"Well? Will he teach you?" Katara asked.

Aang shook his head. "Nope. We should leave early. Goodnight." He laid down and turned onto his side, away from the others.

Tyrn stretched her limbs and stood up. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Walking along the path, Tyrn stopped in front of the fire master's hut. Taking in a breath, she moved the flap and walked inside. She saw Jeong-Jeong's meditating figure on the floor, still surrounded by the circle of candles.

"Master Jeong-Jeong, sir? May I speak with you?" Tyrn asked quietly.

He was silent. "What are you doing here?"

She went to sit down. "My name is Tyrn. I'm an airbender, just like Aang."

Jeong-Jeong looked at her with a questioning look. "The Avatar is the last airbender. The others were killed a long time ago."

Tyrn nodded. "It's a little complicated to explain, we had just found out a few weeks ago that I could bend air."

Jeong-Jeong nodded. "Why are you here?" he asked again.

"I'm here to try and convince you to take Aang under your wing and teach him firebending." Tyrn recoiled when the flames rose a bit.

"That boy is not ready! He does not know waterbending or earthbending; he isn't capable to handle fire!" Jeong-Jeong exclaimed angrily. "Water and earth cannot bend themselves! But fire…it spreads and destroys everything in its path!"

Tyrn nodded. "I agree. It's like taking care of a child. You need to have experience to take care of a living, breathing creature, and it's not the same as a toy doll." Jeong-Jeong looked at her surprised as she continued. "Fire is life. And I agree with you wholeheartedly that Aang isn't ready."

He raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you asking me to teach him? Only a fool asks for his own demise."

"I am not asking for you to put him on the path to being a master. I only ask that you show him the discipline and maturity it takes to learn how to firebend. Like the basics. He needs to know this in order for him to focus better on waterbending and earthbending training. Later on he will learn firebending. Aang needs this."

Jeong-Jeong was silent once again as Tyrn took in a breath. "You are wiser beyond your years, young one."

Tyrn grinned. "Funny, since that's the first time I've heard that compliment."

The old man gave her something in the form of a smile. "Very well. I will teach him."

She stood up and bowed. "Thank you for listening."

"No child…thank you for understanding." she heard him say as she walked out of the tent.

* * *

"Widen your stance." Tyrn shook her head at poor Aang as he stood on the rock. "Wider! Bend your knees." Aang did as he was told. "Good…concentrate." Jeong-Jeong walked away.

"Wait! What do I do now?" Aang asked.

"SILENCE! Talking is not concentrating! Look at your friends, are they talking?" He gestured to Tyrn and Katara who were practicing with a mini spar on the bank. "Even the oaf knows to concentrate on his work."

"Hey!" protested Sokka.

Aang raised an eyebrow. "So what am I concentrating on?"

Jeong-Jeong gestured to the sky. "See the sun. Feel its heat. It is a ball of fire that is in complete harmony with nature."

"So when do I get to make some fire?"

"SILENCE!" Katara and Sokka giggled a little as Jeong-Jeong reprimanded Aang. Tyrn just shook her head at what was sure to be his reddening cheeks.

A little while later Aang and Jeong-Jeong had gone up the distant mountain, and Katara and Tyrn were sitting on the bank. Katara was streaming a trail of water around her as Tyrn was writing in her scrap-journal.

"What'cha doing, Tyrn?" Katara asked curiously.

Tyrn looked at her. "Nothing much. I'm just writing some lyrics."

Katara smiled. "You're always doing something with music, aren't you?"

She shrugged. "It's a big part of my life. Kind of defines me, like your hair loopies."

The waterbender touched her hair loopies for a second. "Yup." She turned to the mountain. "I hope Aang's doing alright."

"He'll be fine. If I know Jeong-Jeong he's going to make him do breathing exercises for who knows how long." Tyrn said.

"That's correct." Both of them looked to see said fire master walk past them and into his hut.

Katara sighed. "That's a relief."

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "You really do care about Aang, don't you?" She smiled at Katara's reddening face. "I knew it!"

The waterbender desperately tried to shush a smirking Tyrn. "Don't sound it!"

"But it's true, right? You have a crush on Aang?" Tyrn whispered, but her heart sank as she heard Katara's next words.

"Well… I've been noticing him more lately." Katara looked down and played with the sand. "It's just…it's kind of awkward…you know, age difference."

Tyrn sighed. "What are one or two years? Look," Katara returned her gaze to Tyrn, "I'm pretty sure that Aang wouldn't be unhappy if you two started dating." _I would be a little, but that doesn't matter. _"Why don't you just try it?"

Katara was silent for a minute. "I don't know…"

"Ugh, he likes you!" Tyrn slapped her forehead in annoyance. "A lot!"

Katara was shocked. "No he doesn't…does he?"

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, why do you think he was all weird when we were at the fortuneteller place?" Katara's eyes still questioned her. "I saw what I saw. But don't say anything. He's still trying to make his move. Just wait until he does."

"You sure about this?" Katara asked her again, still unsure.

She did a dramatic gesture above her heart. "Cross my heart." She clapped her hands. "Aw, this is just too cute!"

Katara sweatdropped at the seemingly happy airbender. "We're not even together yet."

"But you will be!" Tyrn smiled. She went to get up. "I'm going in to see Jeong-Jeong. Catch you later." Katara waved as she went inside the fire master's hut.

* * *

Tyrn looked up from her tea when the flap to the hut moved, letting in a frustrated Aang.

"What are you doing? Did I tell you to stop?" Jeong-Jeong snapped at him.

Aang sighed. "I've been breathing for hours."

"You want to stop breathing?" Tyrn snickered at Jeong-Jeong's hidden sense of humor.

"I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the sun. I want to learn how to shoot fire out of my fingertips!" Aang breathed heavily after his little rant.

Tyrn just sipped her tea quietly. "It is disrespectful to yell at your Sifu, Aang. Especially in front of others." she stated, and then glanced at him. Aang blinked, seeing her there for the first time.

"I had a student once. He was not interested in learning discipline. He was only interested in learning the power of fire, and how he could use it to destroy his enemies. With no self-control, there is no use in learning how to firebend. Fire's nature is to consume and destroy. Learn restraint, or risk destroying everything you love." The old man said tiredly, and poured himself some more tea.

Aang was quiet as he stood there for a second, and he soon left the tent. Tyrn cracked a smile as she looked at Jeong-Jeong. "Who knew you had a sense of humor?"

The fire master gave her a half-smile. "I may be a hardened and crass man, but dry sarcasm is good for a chuckle now and then." He gestured for them to go, and they both stood up and walked out of the tent.

Tyrn gave a small smile to a meditating Aang on the rock in front of them, and walked over to Katara. Jeong-Jeong observed Aang as he spoke. "I thought about what you said. I'll promise to be more patient. And Tyrn?" he turned to his friend. "I'm sorry about my rant earlier."

Tyrn shrugged. "No problem."

Jeong-Jeong nodded approvingly. "We are going to work with fire now." Both he and Tyrn sweatdropped when Aang leaped excitedly into the air.

"Oh yeah!" He blinked and quickly turned around. "I mean…let us begin." He tried not to glare at a giggling Tyrn.

Jeong-Jeong reached up and grabbed a falling leaf, and burned a small hole in the middle of it. He handed it to Aang. "Focus on this leaf. I want you to keep the flame from touching the edges for as long as you can." He ignored Aang's groan as he walked away.

"Master!" All of them turned to one of Jeong-Jeong's followers, who had come running up to them. "There's trouble!"

"Why? What's the matter?" Aang asked.

Jeong-Jeong ran away with the follower. "Concentrate on your leaf." He told Aang before leaving.

Aang looked annoyed. "This is the worst firebending training ever. All he does is leave me alone for hours to concentrate or breathe."

Katara and Tyrn walked over to him. "Believe me, there's a reason for his madness." Tyrn replied.

"But I'm ready to do so much more!" Aang was suddenly struck with an idea. Getting into his stance, he steadily breathed in and out. Tyrn's eyes widened when the leaf burst into flames, a small ember now hovering over Aang's hand. "I did it! I made fire!"

Katara looked concerned. "That's great Aang, but you should start slower." Tyrn and Katara gasped when the flame in Aang's hand flashed and grew, almost toppling him into the water.

Aang grinned at them. "Now that's firebending!" He sent a large flamethrower in the opposite direction.

"Stop it! Before you singe the wildlife or any of us!" Tyrn exclaimed.

The young avatar juggled the flame in his hands and tossed it around his back. "I wonder how that magician did it…"

Tyrn's eyes widened as the circle of flame exploded from Aang. "DUCK!" she yelled, pushing Katara to the floor. Tyrn tried to blow the embers away but wasn't fast enough.

"AHHHH!" Aang stopped his attempt and gasped at Tyrn, who was on the ground clutching her temple.

"Tyrn!" Katara and Aang yelled, getting over to her.

Tyrn pressed her hand to the side of her face in agony as she tried to keep in the sobs of pain from getting out. She distantly heard Sokka come over.

"What's going on?" Sokka yelled, kneeling down towards Tyrn. "What did you do?" He yelled angrily at Aang.

Aang was still shocked. "Ohmygosh, Tyrn, it was an accident! I mean, it was, Tyrn I'm so sor—" he was cut off as Sokka tackled him. Katara gasped as Tyrn opened one eye in shock.

"I told you we shouldn't be messing around with this! Look what you did! You almost burned my sister and you burned Tyrn!" Sokka screamed at Aang, who was overcome with shame. The enraged Sokka looked up to see Jeong-Jeong. "This is all your fault!"

Jeong-Jeong closed his eyes in frustration. "I know. You need to pack your things and leave immediately."

Aang tried to apologize. "Sokka, I didn't mean to, I'm so sorry!" But Sokka just walked away angrily. Aang looked up at his sifu, who just shook his head in disappointment. The distraught avatar glanced at Tyrn and Katara before running into the hut.

Katara tried to look at the wound. "Tyrn, move your hand away."

Tyrn hissed as she removed her hand, revealing two vertical burns on her temple, which were bleeding a little. Katara gasped as Jeong-Jeong silently watched. Tyrn looked at Katara. "Well? Am I a lookalike to Zuko's or not?"

Katara shook her head. "Your eye isn't damaged, but it's kind of close." She moved Tyrn's head to look at the burn better, which hurt a lot.

Tyrn panted, and then looked at Katara. "Katara, bend some water on your hand, and put it on the burn, please?"

Katara nodded and proceeded to do as she was told, placing the water over the nasty burn. Tyrn hissed once again. "That stings like crap!" she exclaimed in pain. She saw a dim glow come over the water, and Jeong-Jeong and Katara gasped when the waterbender moved her hand away, revealing just a scar where the wound was.

Jeong-Jeong was surprised, to say the least. "You have healing abilities." He looked at Katara, then at Tyrn. "And you apparently have the ability to swear." He raised an eyebrow.

Tyrn rolled her eyes, which hurt the side of her head a bit. "Swearing helps you endure pain. Pure fact."

Jeong-Jeong sat by Katara and Tyrn. "I wish I was blessed like you, Katara. Instead I bear this horrible curse."

"But you have things I will never know, you're a master!" Katara said.

"Water brings healing and life. But fire just brings destruction and pain." Jeong-Jeong said sadly. They all jumped when a flash of fire appeared down the river. "Go! You must leave!" he said hurriedly, and Katara ran towards Sokka and Appa, while Jeong-Jeong ran up river. Tyrn went towards the hut where Aang was.

She was quiet as she entered, and saw a depressed Aang sit behind the circle of candles.

Aang spoke softly. "Jeong-Jeong said I wasn't ready. I didn't listen." He sighed quietly. "I'm never going to firebend again."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "That's irrational. You'll have to do it eventually." she stated, coming over to sit by him.

"No. Never again." was the response she got.

Tyrn sighed. "A bit dramatic much?" she smiled at the very small upturn of Aang's lips. "It's fine. Katara healed me."

Aang swiveled around to see her. "What? How?" he looked at the scar.

"I'll explain later. But Zhao and his soldiers are attacking, we have to help Jeong-Jeong." she said urgently.

Aang leaped up. "Then let's go!" They ran out to the clearing where Jeong-Jeong was, just in time to see him disappear in a ball of fire.

"It's a trick! He went into the forest! Find him!" barked Zhao. He then turned to Aang and Tyrn, who were glaring at him in their fighting positions.

He smirked and walked towards them. "Even if you were trained under my old master, Avatar, you and your little girlfriend are no match for me."

Aang and Tyrn spoke at the same time. "You were Jeong-Jeong's student?" "I'm not his girlfriend!" They looked at each other and blushed slightly.

"Yes I was, Avatar, until I got bored." He roared as he launched a series of blasts at Aang and Tyrn.

Both of them jumped and balanced on an air sphere. Aang looked behind them in amazement. "Whoa, wild shot!"

Zhao got pissed. "I'll show you wild!" He continued to pelt fire blast after fire ball at the duo, each of them narrowly dodging each one. Tyrn cringed when a stray ember grazed her newly healed burn.

Aang widened in an idea as he glanced at the wildfire behind them. "No self-control!" he exclaimed. He looked at Tyrn, who nodded and gestured towards the boats.

"Stand and fight you two!" Zhao yelled.

Aang smirked. "Oh, were we fighting? I thought you were just getting warmed up!"

Zhao snarled. "I was!" He kicked a wave of fire at them as they slowly maneuvered him to the boats.

Aang yawned. "Is that all you got? Man, they'll make anyone an admiral these days!" Tyrn stifled her laughter as Zhao got even more ticked, releasing a flaming ball at their heads.

Tyrn leaped onto the rooftop of the boat along with Aang, and smirked. "You know, his goatee and sideburns make him almost look like a monkey, don't you think?" she nudged Aang.

Aang smirked back. "What do you mean, almost? It's spot on!" They roared with laughter as they jumped to the next boat, dodging Zhao's infuriated shots at them.

Aang walked along the edge of the boat as Zhao turned to them. "You know, I don't know WHY but I thought you would be better than Zuko!" he said, and Tyrn burst out laughing at his face when he finished his. She shrieked when a wall of fire was shot in front of her, but sighed in relief when she saw Aang flat against the floor.

She grabbed him from underneath the flames and they both jumped onto the next boat. They ran away from every flame as they ran to the tip of the boat.

They stopped however when Zhao leaped down in front of them. "Nowhere to run now!" he said, and threw a blast at them. They quickly leaped over his head and stood behind him.

"You've lost this battle." Aang stated with a grin. They leaped again when Zhao whirled around and kicked an arc at them.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Zhao said angrily. "You two haven't made a single shot!"

Tyrn shook her head. "Yeah…but you have." she gestured to the burning boats behind them, Zhao's eyes widening in disbelief.

Aang took Tyrn's hand and prepared to jump. "Jeong-Jeong said you had no restraint." he stated, and the two airbenders leaped high into the air, landing on Appa's back as he flew away from the rage from Zhao's burning boats.

"Wait, where's Jeong-Jeong?" Aang asked as they flew above the camp.

Sokka shook his head. "He disappeared. They all did." he said, gesturing to the deserted camp below.

Katara gasped. "Aang, you're burned." Aang glanced down at the small burn on his arm as Katara got closer to him. "Let me help you with that."

Tyrn smiled as Katara bended the water around her hand and placed it on the burn, effectively healing it.

Aang gave her a hug. "That's so awesome! When did you learn to do that?"

Katara shrugged. "I guess I always knew." Tyrn was quick to note the slight blushes on their cheeks when they pulled away.

Sokka sighed exasperatedly. "Oh, so thanks for all of the first aid over the years! You know, like the time I got two fish hooks stuck in my thumb!" he held out his hand to show two small holes in his thumb.

"Two?" Aang asked questioningly.

Katara smirked. "He tried to get the first one out with a second one."

Tyrn shook her head. "Ok, even for you Sokka, that isn't the brightest idea." She settled into her spot as Sokka ranted on about previous injuries (and the amount of situations didn't surprise her) as she grinned over the love problem Katara and Aang were facing. _Operation Best Friend Matchmaker is a go! _She thought with a smile, and tried to ignore the pain in her chest as they flew off.

* * *

**OMG! Apparently Katara has some feelings for Aang as well...hmmmmmmmm. I don't know how Tyrn can stand it. Then again she is a spinoff of me so...I still don't know.**

**I'll *hopefully* get the next chapter up sooner, and it will be the Waterbending Master episode! In the meantime, some reviews can help me speed the process along!**

**Until then, ciao!**


	13. Chapter 13

**And yet another two weeks have gone by since I've posted the last chapter! SORRY! :( School is being a pain in my side... Anywho, I think you all will like this chapter! In this one Tyrn and the Gaang finally reach the North Pole, where Katara and Aang head off to find a master and Tyrn looks for Bella, who had sent her the letter in the Bato of the Water Tribe chapter! I'm giving a shoutout to my friend Swahili! You know why ;-D**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever.**

* * *

As the Gaang flew over the frigid waters below, they watched as Tyrn flew alongside them, happily flying around Appa as they went. They had just left the Northern Air Temple, where Teo and his father had presented Tyrn with a little surprise.

_The colonists of the Northern Air Temple cheered as they saw the remains of the Fire Nation invaders, the ends of the chains dangling off the cliff. Sokka and the Mechanist landed with a thud onto the ground, and Katara and Tyrn walked over to them, smiling._

"_That was the most awesome explosion I've ever seen!" Tyrn exclaimed, high-fiving Sokka. "I'm pretty sure I saw some flying tanks!"_

_Sokka grinned maniacally. "I know, right? It went all, KABOOM, WHOOSH, BING BAM BOOM!" Tyrn laughed at the hyperactive Sokka, who did loose imitations of the explosion._

_Aang turned to Teo and the Mechanist. "You know, I'm really glad you all live here now. I've realized…" he picked up a little hermit crab, "it's like this little crab. Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home. Now you protect each other."_

_Teo smiled at him. "That means a lot, coming from you." Aang smiled back at him._

_Sokka spoke up. "Aang, you were right about air power. As long as we've got the skies, we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!" The crowd cheered at Sokka's statement._

_Tyrn and the Mechanist were the only ones not cheering. Taking one look at the Mechanist, Tyrn looked solemn. __**I wouldn't be so sure about that, Sokka. **__She thought._

"_By the way…" Tyrn turned to Teo. "We found something that might be useful to you, Tyrn." He waved over two little boys with something wrapped in a blue and orange cloth. He thanked them as he took it, and handed it to her._

_Tyrn's eyes widened as she took it. "Gee, you guys didn't need to get me anything!"_

_The Mechanist chuckled. "Well, after what we've seen you do to help drive back the Fire Nation today, we thought it was only fitting that you should have it. Well, we as in Teo, here." he jabbed his son in the ribs._

_Teo blushed as he tried to shush up his old man. "Dad, seriously?"_

_Tyrn smiled at Teo, not noticing Aang's slightly frowning face. "Aw, thanks Teo!" she quickly unwrapped the object, and everyone gasped as she held it up._

_Sokka, Katara and Aang stared at it. "No way…"_

"_An airbender staff?" Tyrn stated incredulously, turning it around in her hands. Aang walked over to her and stared at it also._

_Teo nodded. "This is the last one we have that was still intact. You should have it, since we can't exactly use it."_

_Aang took the staff from her and opened it with a slight gust in the right mechanism, and stared at it in awe. "It looks just like mine!"_

_Tyrn took the staff back and close it again, and then did an experimental swipe in the air. She grinned when a nicely sized gust flew over the balcony. "Sweet!" She then furrowed her eyebrows. "This might be a little confusing if Aang and I get these mixed up…"_

_Katara took out Aang's own staff from Appa's saddle and nodded. "Yeah, they look exactly the same."_

_Tyrn thought for a second, then her eyes lit up in an idea. "I got it!" She went over to the cloth that was around her staff and examined the blue and orange stripes. Quickly tearing off an orange stripe, she airbended Aang's staff over to her and tied it around the main handle. She grinned at her handiwork and bended over to Aang. "Is that good?"_

_Aang smiled at the new handle cover. "It's great! This area of the handle sometimes chaffs my hands anyway, thanks Tyrn!"_

_Tyrn smiled as she stood up, a blue strip of cloth now covering her own. "No problem, now we can tell them apart."_

_Sokka rolled his eyes. "Great, so now your little girly hands wouldn't get a scratch, big whoop. We need to leave soon if we want to get to the North Pole in time."_

_Tyrn sighed exasperatedly as she bonked Sokka lightly on the head. "Fine, let's go. And by the way, these hands are good enough to kick your butt." they all laughed as they got onto Appa and waved to the colonists before taking off._

Tyrn smiled as she landed on Appa's saddle and closed her new glider, but her smile vanished when she saw the group. All of them looked weary and tired as she sat down.

Sokka groaned. "I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly a little higher?"

Aang whirled around and glared at Sokka. "I have an idea, why don't we all climb on YOUR back and you can fly us to the North Pole." Tyrn raised an eyebrow; Aang wasn't one to snap at people.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "I'd LOVE to; climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for takeoff!" He shook his but towards the group, but turned to find Momo already on his back.

"Look, we're all just tired and a little cranky for flying for two days straight." Katara said, looking in between the two boys.

Sokka held Momo in his lap. "And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's practically nothing up here!"

Everyone yelled in surprise as Appa suddenly dove to the right, dodging a large sudden ice spike. Tyrn clutched the saddle. "You just HAD to open your big mouth, Sokka!" she yelled at him.

Appa was hit once again, and as the ice snagged his foot they all tumbled into the frozen waters, Appa groaning as ice started to secure him in the water.

Katara gasped as several boats with waterbenders floated out to them. "They're waterbenders! We've found them!"

* * *

Tyrn shivered as they headed down to the ceremonial feast of the majestic Northern Water Tribe. She heard Katara exclaim in awe. "This place is so beautiful!"

"Yeah… and it's cold!" Tyrn shivered again.

Sokka just smirked at her. "Well duh! It's at the NORTH POLE. Back at the Southern Water Tribe it was just as cold."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for not having a built-in space heater." she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself.

The group sat down at the table, and the people at the feast grew quiet as Chief Arnook stood up. "Tonight…we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Water Tribe." Katara and Sokka beamed with pride for their home as Arnook continued. "With them accompanies two of the last air nomads of our time, whose people we haven't seen for a century: Tyrn and Aang." Tyrn and Aang smiled and waved.

"And in their group is a person very special, someone thought to have vanished from the earth decades ago until now…the Avatar!" Aang looked sheepish as the crowd cheered.

"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday. My daughter, Yue, is now of marrying age!" Tyrn and Sokka gaped at the white-haired beauty who stepped up to the group. Tyrn smiled at Yue, who smiled back as Sokka continued to stare at Yue.

"Thank you father." Yue turned to address the crowd. "May the Great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us in these troubled times." She bowed and walked to sit next to Tyrn and Sokka.

"And now the great Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Aang and Katara clapped excitedly as the old man and his two students bended from the large vats of water, swirling it around them in an intricate dance. Tyrn observed the flowing movements as the three blobs merged into one, looping around each waterbender.

"If I didn't turn out to be an airbender, I think waterbending would've been my second choice." Tyrn stated.

"Lucky me, I get to be both!" Aang teased her. Tyrn just stuck her tongue at him.

Yue turned to Tyrn. "They are marvelous, aren't they?"

Sokka spoke up. "Yeah, they are!" Yue smiled at him. "The name's Sokka, Southern Water Tribe."

Yue bowed a little towards him. "It's very nice to meet you." Both of the two teens looked a little bit awkward as they tried to come up with a conversation. Tyrn smirked as she listened while eating some food. _This is my entertainment for the night._

"So…" Sokka turned to Yue again. "You're a princess!" Yue nodded. "You know, back in my tribe I was kind of a prince myself."

Tyrn snorted. "I doubt it. Of what, sarcasm and meat?"

Sokka glared at her. "A lot of things! Do you mind, I'm trying to have a conversation here!"

Tyrn mock-bowed. "My apologizes, Prince Sokka." She winked at Yue, who only giggled.

Sokka scratched his head. "So, uh…it looks like I'm going to be in town for a few days. Maybe you want to…do an activity together?"

Yue smiled. "An activity?"

Tyrn could only shake her head as Sokka stuffed his face with treats. She decided to back him up. "He means if you want to hang out sometime." she clarified.

Yue nodded, and then turned to Sokka. "I'd love to…do an activity with you!" she lightly teased him.

Sokka's face lit up. "Really?"

Yue smiled. "Of course!" She stood to get up. "I must be leaving now. I'll see you later?"

"Definitely." Sokka waved as she left.

Tyrn jabbed him in the side. "I'm pretty sure your face was like a space heater when you messed that up!" she chuckled.

Sokka hid his face. "Shut up…" he peeked out of the corner of his eye, however. "Thanks anyway."

Tyrn smiled. "Just doing my job as matchmaker. Now to get those two…" she glanced at Aang and Katara.

* * *

Walking up the steps of the palace, Tyrn sucked in a deep breath. "Let's get this over with…" She knocked on the icy door.

Chief Arnook looked up from his studies. "Come in."

He raised an eyebrow when he saw the young airbender girl walk in. "Miss Tyrn!" He got up and walked around his desk. "What a surprise to see you! How have you been?" he asked, shaking her hand.

Tyrn smiled at him. "I've been well. Your city is very beautiful."

Chief Arnook looked flattered. "Thank you, I'm sure our citizens are very proud to hear such a comment coming from you."

Tyrn shook her head. "No, I'm just me. I'm no Avatar."

Arnook went around his desk, sitting once more. "What may I help you with?"

Tyrn set her staff aside and took the letter out of her pocket. "I was hoping you could help me find this girl." Arnook took the letter and studied it. "Is there a girl named Bella around here?"

Arnook stroked his beard as he thought. "Actually, there is." He turned to the window behind him. "You see that spiral roof to the right of the city?" Tyrn nodded. "We had a young visitor come here about a year ago, and she has been living there ever since. I believe her name is Bella, like the girl you're searching for."

Tyrn gave Arnook a quick hug. "Thank you for helping me!" She backed off, a little bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm a hugger."

Arnook just chuckled. "It's alright. You remind me of my own daughter."

Tyrn waved back at him, and then tossed her staff out the window. Leaping out behind it, she grabbed hold of it as the glider opened and started to sail off towards the spiral rooftop.

The chief just chuckled and turned back to his work. "Kids these days…"

Touching down, Tyrn spun her staff in a circle to close it. Walking into the small home, she tapped on the wall as she passed through the cloth door. "Hello?" She stood in the middle of the room. "Bella?"

She heard a movement behind her and whirled around, staff in hand. Tyrn gasped, however, and dropped her staff when she got a good look at the girl. The girl was tall, carrying a small basket. Her hair was black, like hers, and her skin tan, almost deeper than the Water Tribe citizens. But what struck Tyrn was her face, the familiarity of it almost overwhelming her.

"Mira?" she whispered.

"_Get the hell away from me!" Tyrn squealed as she was running around the gym, her friend chasing her. The gym teacher blew the whistle, calling everyone to stop and start their stretches._

_Mira pouted. "Aw, I was so close, too!"_

_Tyrn grinned. "Hardly, I was like, a million miles away from you!"_

"_Was not!"_

"_Was too!"_

"_Was not!"_

"_Please tell me we aren't doing that!" Tyrn slapped her forehead as she sat down, stretching out towards her right leg._

_Mira laughed. "I would, but I would be lying." She slumped over as she sat. "Ugh, I'm too tired to stretch!"_

_Tyrn poked her arm. "Just do it, lazy!"_

_Mira groaned again. "But it's the morning!"_

"_You were just running five seconds ago!" Tyrn retorted._

"_Ugh, fine." Mira stretched her arm. "Hey, did you ask him out yet?"_

_Tyrn rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Erik and I are not going out! You know my dad is like," she screwed up her face. "'No dating until you're 35!' or something along those lines."_

_Mira pouted. "Aw, but you're so cute together!"_

_Tyrn shushed her. "Quiet, he's like, ten feet away!"_

"_And that is why I find it cute!" Mira squealed._

"_I'm questioning why I'm friends with you." Tyrn complained, but grinned at Mira. "You up for the sleepover on Saturday?"_

_Mira beamed. "You know it! Then we can talk about boys! HEY ERI—"She was silenced when Tyrn whapped her in the arm…hard. "Ow!"_

_Tyrn glared at her. "I thought you were my BFF here!"_

_Mira glared playfully right back. "With being a BFF comes a huge responsibility."_

"_How are we responsible?" Tyrn and Mira burst out laughing, laughing even more when the gym teacher glared at them._

_-scene change-_

_Tyrn looked up from her bed, taking out her earbuds when she saw her mother. "Hi Mom, what's up?" She grew worried when she saw her mom's grim face. "What's wrong?"_

_Her mother walked over to her bed and handed her the paper. "Mira missing."_

_Tyrn silently read the paper, her fear increasing as she read. There was no trace of her best friend, who had disappeared the day before. It was like she had never existed. __**No, no this isn't supposed to happen! **__Tyrn almost let out a sob. __**She can't be gone! Not Mira!**__ Reality hit Tyrn like a ten ton bus. __**She's never coming back.**_

_Tyrn's mother sighed as she hugged her daughter, who shook silently as the tears ran quiet trails down her face._

Tyrn leaped forward and hugged the taller girl, smiling like crazy. "I can't believe you're here!"

Mira smiled and hugged her back. "I knew Bumi said your name was Tyrn, but I didn't expect it to be my best friend!"

Tyrn chuckled. "I'm still questioning how Bumi contacted you."

"I went to Omashu once for a meeting." Her face was puzzled when she drew back to look over her long lost best friend. "But what the hell are you doing here in the Avatar world?"

"I could almost say the same for you." Tyrn replied. "Long story short, I woke up on a cliff on a random island. Aang and the others found me and now I'm traveling with them."

Mira gaped at her. "You're traveling with the awesome main characters of our favorite show? High-five!" They both high-fived, then started to giggle at their silliness.

"Come on, we'll go sit in my bedroom." Mira motioned for Tyrn to follow her as they made their way into the small home. Tyrn glanced at the traditional Water Tribe décor as they reached the bedroom.

Mira turned and sat on her mat. "You need to tell me EVERYTHING you've done since you've met up with the Gaang!" she said excitedly, bouncing a little.

Tyrn smiled. "Well…okay!" She leaped onto the mat with an airbending kick, landing cross-legged and facing Mira.

Mira's mouth was literally on the floor. "Okay, either I'm hallucinating, or you just airbended!"

Tyrn nodded. "I found out I could a few days after the Gaang and I met."

The young airbender found herself being glomped by her overly-enthusiastic friend. "That's so awesome! Now we're bending buddies!"

"Wait, wait! You can bend?" Tyrn looked at Mira with wide eyes.

Mira grinned. "Sure can! Watch!" She turned towards the water jug in the corner. Raising her hands, she pushed them out and up, raising the water within the jug. She bended it above Tyrn's stunned eyes before sending it back into the jug with a swish.

Tyrn stared at her best friend. "That. Was. Freaking. AWESOME!"

Mira squealed along with Tyrn. "I know right!"

Tyrn rolled her eyes after they were done spazzing out. "I better start telling you about my journey so far, or else we'll be here by sundown."

The waterbender hugged a nearby blanket. "Storytime! YES!"

Tyrn snorted at her friend's immaturity, and then proceeded to recount her tale with the Gaang. Mira gasped at the events of the Southern Air Temple, grinned at the story of Omashu, and applauded her genius plan with the Freedom Fighters.

By the time Tyrn had caught up with the current events, Mira was observing Tyrn's new staff as she held it up. "God, you've had WAY more drama and fun than I have." She winked at Tyrn. "And definitely more romance!"

Tyrn blushed madly and took back her staff. "Shut up."

Mira grinned in a way that it almost made Tyrn want to hide. "Aw, someone's in looooooooooove!"

Tyrn bonked her on the head. "I am so not!" She sighed anyways. "I've already told you, Aang wants to go out with Katara. There's nothing I can do but encourage him."

Mira shook her head. "Now it's starting to sound like a soap opera." She dodged the whap from the staff aimed at her head. "But seriously…" she grew a little bit solemn. "This doesn't sound anything like the Erik incident back at home. I really think you might be falling in love."

Tyrn looked at her. "I'm only freaking 12! I'm not supposed to fall in love now!"

Mira shrugged. "You might not think that, but I do."

Tyrn looked at Mira. "Now we've off the topic of my sad, sad love life," Mira playfully frowned at that, "how the heck did you get here? Weren't you…you know…" Tyrn gulped at the sad memory of when she found out, "kidnapped or something?"

Mira played with the edge of the blanket. "Well kind of."

"_Let me go!" Mira yelled, struggling against her binds as her captors shut the door of the trunk. Mira sighed exasperatedly, knowing that screaming wouldn't help her as much. She heard the car start to move, and listened to the sound of passing cars as the minutes felt like hours. _

_She woke up with a start when a bump made her crash against the roof of the trunk. "Uh, ow!" she yelled, reaching up with her bound hands to rub her poor forehead. _

_Mira gasped as she saw a thin beam of light on her bound hands. Turning to look at the trunk's door, she was startled to see it unlocked, sunlight filtering through the crack. "This might be my ticket out of here!" Touching the edge of the lid, she found that it was slightly stuck. Mira started to repeatedly roll into the crack, making it open a little bit at a time. _

_The trunk's lid opened with a snap, and Mira tumbled out of the moving car, and found herself unable to stop as she tumbled down a hill. She gasped as she hit the bottom, falling into a lake._

_**Must…keep…consciousness… **__Mira held in her breath for as long as she could, but as she met the bottom of the dark lake, she blacked out._

_-scene change-_

_Gasping for air, Mira opened her eyes once more. Her eyes met the dark blue sky as her chest heaved for the much needed oxygen. She heard the footsteps of someone behind her, and she quickly sat up and stared at them._

"_You see father? The spirits really did save her." Mira gaped in shock as the white-haired girl talked to the older man._

_The man approached her. "Hello, are you alright?"_

_Mira looked down at her drenched form, feeling the small indentions of where her bounds once were. "I…think so."__** Or I drowned and I'm stuck in the Avatar universe.**__ "What happened?"_

_The man looked at Mira. "We found you on the shores of our city, the Northern Water Tribe. Since our healers couldn't find anything to wake you up, we took you to our Spirit Oasis." Mira looked around at the lush green pond as he continued. "The Ocean Spirit was able to revive you."_

_Mira looked behind her and saw the two koi fish, swimming the dance that they always did in the show. "No way…" she said in shock._

_The man frowned. "May I have your name?"_

_Mira hesitated, not wanting to give out her full identity just yet. "…it's Bella."_

_The man smiled at the soaked girl. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Chief Arnook, and this is my daughter, Yue."_

"After that they gave me this hut, and I've been living here ever since." Mira took in a breath. "I found out I could waterbend a little bit after I arrived here. Since I was touched by the La, the Ocean Spirit, I have a bit of its power in my waterbending." She touched her face. "Unfortunately, sometimes I lose control and almost wipe out everything around me."

Tyrn looked at Mira's eyes and saw the neon blue specks in her dark brown eyes. "Then how come you didn't freak out before?"

Mira shrugged. "I don't know. It just comes in and out."

Tyrn looked down for a second before giving Mira a hug. "I've really missed you."

Mira hugged her back. "I can definitely say the same." She grew serious. "Now to the issue of getting you back to your world."

Tyrn nodded. "Right, and you can come back too, right?" Her eyes grew wide as Mira shook her head.

"Tyrn, I'm dead in the other world. I told you, I'm pretty sure I drowned in a lake in the middle of nowhere!" Mira shook her head. "There's nothing for me back there. But there is for you."

Tyrn was silent. She finally sighed, seeing her friend's point. "You're right. But what am I going to do about Aang and the others?"

Mira shrugged. "That's your decision. Now, here's what I've figured out from your story. You woke up at the island not too far from the South Pole, am I right?" Tyrn nodded. "Then that means it must've been pretty close to when Aang first entered the Avatar state when he first got captured by Zuko. I'm guessing all of that energy first being tapped into the spiritual universe must've connected to you. Any guesses why?"

Tyrn thought hard. "Well, the last night I was in my bed I was wishing I could go to the Avatar World. My family was giving me problems."

"Then that must've connected to Aang's strong spirit energy and brought you here." Mira explained.

"So wait…this was all Aang's fault?" Tyrn raised an eyebrow.

Mira smiled. "Well…not particularly. You also had wished really hard to come here; Aang first experiencing the Avatar State in combat just made it fully connect you to here."

Tyrn soaked in all of the information. "So, incase I want to go back, can you tell me how?"

Mira looked at her. "What do you mean, incase?"

Tyrn laid back on the mat. "Well…I just didn't really click with my family. It always seemed like something was off, like I didn't really needed to be there. You know, I still loved them and everything, but I felt like some sort of freeloader."

Her best friend just nodded. "I know. I've kinda seen it when I came over to your house."

"Then, when I came over here, Katara and Sokka really became like my friends, almost family. Aang is now my best friend, no offense to you since you were gone and everything."

"None taken."

"I just feel like…maybe I belong here. And besides," Tyrn grinned, "Who would want to give up bending?"

Mira laughed. "I guess no one, except people with a phobia of magical powers." She shook her head as she gradually stopped her giggling along with Tyrn. "Okay, so I found out through looking through the old files at the palace…" she stopped when Tyrn looked at her oddly. "What? Remember, I'm half-ninja."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Right. Continue, master ninja."

"Anyways…the only way to send you back is to have a suitable source of energy to transport you back, as long as you're keeping the destination you have in mind while you absorb the energy. The only amount of energy that could match Aang tapping into the Avatar State for the first time is the New Moon celebration."

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"It's this celebration that takes place once a year, on one of the new moons. The Northern Water Tribe traditionally gathers with their sister tribe at the South Pole, but they haven't been able to do that part for a while." Mira sighed happily. "It's such a fun experience. It's also when the Ocean and Moon Spirits cross over into the spirit world. I gathered that if you stood in the middle of the two as they crossed over, you can be transported back to our original world."

Tyrn nodded. "When will this take place?"

Mira shrugged. "I don't know exactly, but they let us know a few weeks early so we may prepare. If you want I'll send you a messenger hawk. Even if you decide not to go through with it, you can still bring everyone and we can enjoy the festival!"

Tyrn smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." They both jumped when a loud gong rang outside.

Mira stood up. "It's almost dark."

Grabbing her staff, Tyrn stood up as well. "You're right. I'd better get back to the others." They walked out to the front of Mira's hut, and Tyrn turned to Mira. "Are you sure you don't want to meet the others?"

Mira shrugged. "I have to get dinner started." She blushed slightly. "Say hi to Sokka for me!"

"Now why would you want me to-" Tyrn smirked. "Wait a minute…didn't you have a huge crush on Sokka in the real world?"

Mira blushed even further. "Shut up! Come on, you'd better get going." She gave her best friend a quick hug. "I'll see later, 'kay?"

Tyrn rolled her eyes and hugged back. "Sure, sure. And I'll make sure to give him that kiss for ya!" She quickly unfolded her staff and flew away, laughing as she heard Mira shout after her.

"TYRN!"

* * *

Walking into the small hut that they were staying in, Tyrn raised an eyebrow when she saw the group sitting solemnly on their sleeping bags. "Um, is everything okay?"

Aang looked up in surprise. "Oh, hey Tyrn! How was your day?" he tried to look happy for her, but Tyrn could see the slump in his shoulders.

The young airbender smiled as she sat down. "Actually, I met an old friend."

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean? Was it Bumi or something?"

Tyrn laughed. "No, but someone pretty close to me. You know the girl that sent me the letter?"

Katara nodded. "Oh yeah, I was wondering where you went. You found her?"

"Yes, and there's more." Tyrn grinned. "See, back in my old world I had a best friend. She disappeared about a year ago and I've never seen her since. Well, until now."

Aang gasped. "She wound up here?"

"Yup! Turns out, Bella is my old friend Mira. When she disappeared she was almost dead when she came here, and the Ocean Spirit revived her." She glanced at Sokka. "She says hi."

"Wait, did she watch us on TV?" Sokka asked curiously.

Tyrn started laughing. "Definitely! She started freaking out when I told her I'm traveling with you guys."

Katara smiled. "That's amazing! Well…what about the thing to get you back home?"

Aang's features saddened a little when Katara mentioned Tyrn going home. From what he had heard from before on the cliff, he thought that Tyrn was going to take it.

Tyrn shrugged. "Well, there is a chance. But I'm still not sure I want to do it yet." She leaned back on her mat. "Anyways, why were you all depressed when I came in?"

Aang sighed, and landed face down on his mat. "Master Poophead won't teach Katara because she's a girl. Then when I tried to teach her, he kicked me out of his teaching!"

Katara groaned. "He's such a prick!"

Tyrn frowned. "Why do we have such sexist rules? It's totally unfair." she complained, and then sighed. "But Aang needs a tutor. Maybe you should go back tomorrow and ask if he'll take Aang back."

"I guess you're right." Katara sighed.

* * *

The next morning, the group stood in front of Chief Arnook, his daughter and Master Pakku. Tyrn could almost feel a vein pop out on her forehead as Arnook replied to their request. "Master Pakku just might take back Aang, but only if you swallow your pride and apologize." He told Katara.

Katara narrowed her eyes, but glanced back at Aang before she turned back and answered. "Fine." she said with a scowl.

Pakku looked proud. "I'm waiting…_little girl_."

Clenched her fist, Tyrn was more pissed at Pakku than she had ever been. But the waterbender's rage was much worse.

Katara just snapped. "No. No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" she yelled furiously, her rage making the water jugs explode.

Tyrn looked proud. "You go girl!" she whispered.

Katara glared at Pakku. "I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me." She turned and walked out, ignoring the gasps from Yue and her father. Tyrn glared at Pakku and followed her out.

Aang turned to the council. "I'm sure she didn't mean that." he assured them.

"Yeah, I think she did." Sokka stated. Aang just stared at Sokka and turned to follow the two girls.

Tyrn took Katara's coat as they marched down the steps. "Don't forget, I'll be rooting for you the entire way." she grinned at Katara.

Katara gave her a quick smile. "Thanks, that means a lot."

The two heard Sokka and Aang run up behind them. "Are you crazy?" Sokka yelled. "You're not going to win this fight!"

Katara looked straight ahead. "I know, I don't care!"

Aang looked apprehensive. "You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "This isn't about you Aang! No offense," she assured him, "but this is about teaching that sexist old man that girls can fight!"

They finally reached the bottom, and Katara turned to see Pakku following them. "So, you decided to show up?"

Both Katara and Tyrn glared at Pakku as he simply walked by them. "What are you doing? Aren't you going to fight?" Katara yelled.

Pakku didn't even turn to face them. "Go back to the healing huts where you belong."

Katara bended a whip and struck Pakku on his little half-bald head.

Tyrn snickered as Pakku turned to them. "Fine! You want to learn how to fight so bad?" He smirked. "Study closely!"

He bended the water from the large water jugs behind him and launched it at Katara, who was running towards him. Using the water to swirl a large circular wall around the two of them, he inched it tighter and tighter as Katara stumbled.

Pakku smirked. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to hurt you!"

Katara growled as she broke the wall with her bending. Tyrn and Aang ducked as the remains of the water swished into Sokka. "I'm okay!" he yelled.

Tyrn's eyes widened when she heard someone call her name. "Tyrn!" She turned to find Mira running up to her. "What's going on?"

Mira raised an eyebrow when Tyrn pointed down below. "Katara and Pakku are fighting." Tyrn explained.

Mira smiled. "This is the first time something from the show has happened since I arrived here. This should be interesting."

"Oh, so you're Mira?" Aang walked up to the two of them. "Hi! I'm Aang."

Sokka walked up to them, wringing out his sleeve. "And I'm Sokka."

Mira's eyes widened as she saw Aang and Sokka in front of her, but she quickly grinned and shook their hands. "Nice to meet you both." she stated, blushing slightly when she shook Sokka's hand. "So, how's traveling with Tyrn going?"

"Good, for the most part." Sokka replied, smirking at Tyrn.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you can't survive without me." she joked.

"Like what?" Sokka challenged her.

"If I had to list them all, you would be hiding in embarrassment and shame." Aang and Mira chuckled at Sokka's face when he heard this. They all turned when new sounds of the fight reached them.

Running towards the old man, Katara quickly slid up and over the icy wall he built to deflect her. She landed on the stairway's edge, stumbling a little as she turned to face him.

She gasped as the icy wall she had just leaped over turned to water, and Pakku sent it around him to flood the girl off her stand. Quickly wrapping her feet to the ice, she dispersed the waves to nothing.

Katara stood up tall. "You can't knock me down!" she declared, hopping down.

The small crowd that had gathered cheered at her spirit. "You go Katara!" both Tyrn and Aang yelled.

Tyrn held her breath as Katara and Pakku engaged in close combat, and gasped when Pakku swept her away into the small fountain of water.

Katara leaped up from the pool of water and raised an icy half-column. Sweeping her hands over it, she sent sharp discs of ice towards Pakku, who broke almost every one with his hands.

Tyrn laughed when a very close disc almost hit Pakku's head. "How's your reflection?" she laughed as Pakku raised an eyebrow at Katara.

Katara bended a powerful torrent of water at Pakku, who simply redirected it and swirled it behind him. He smirked as Katara ran towards him, and raised his hands to fling the water at her. Katara was swept down, panting as she was on her hands and knees.

The crowd gasped as she leaped up and pulled the tall columns of jars behind Pakku, who raised his hands to protect himself as a large cloud of snowflakes enveloped them.

"Well, I'm impressed. You are an excellent waterbender." he stated as the two faced each other.

Katara's mouth was still in a grim line. "But you still won't teach me, will you."

"No."

Katara grunted as she launched a large roll of ice towards Pakku, who merely avoided it with an ice column. Bending the column into water, he rode it towards Katara. The young waterbender battered the column with a large splash, but Pakku froze the aftermath and zipped by Katara, catching her in the arm.

Tyrn could see a flash of metallic blue dance onto the floor as the battle raged on. _Her necklace!_

Katara landed with a thud on the ground as Pakku leaped up into the pond. Twisting his arms, Pakku bended a large disc of water above Katara. With a snap of his wrists, the disc turned into shards, which merely held the exhausted waterbender in its icy prison. The crowd gasped as Katara struggled.

Pakku started to walk off. "This fight is over."

"Come back here, I'm not finished yet!" Katara yelled.

"Yes, you are." Pakku stopped when he saw Katara's necklace on the ground. Picking it up, he gaped at the carving hanging in the middle. "This…is my necklace."

Katara growled. "No it's not! It's mine, give it back!"

Pakku continued, letting Katara go from her icy prison as he spoke. "I made this for my betrothed when we got engaged…Kanna."

"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara said incredulously.

Mira leaned towards Tyrn. "Wow…that must be awkward."

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "It's kind of sweet, but weird at the same time."

"We were engaged to be married. I thought we were going to have a long and happy life together. I…loved her." Pakku stated, remembering back to his past.

Katara stepped forward. "But she didn't love you. It was an arranged marriage."

Tyrn's eyes widened when she turned to Yue, whose eyes started to water. "Oh no…" she murmured.

"She didn't want your tribe's stupid customs to rule her life, so she ran away." Katara looked away. "It must've taken a lot of courage."

Yue let out a sob as she ran, Sokka staring after her. Tyrn looked at Mira, who just shook her head. "Well, go get her!" Mira said. Sokka nodded and ran after the fleeing princess. Tyrn raised an eyebrow at Mira, who shrugged.

Katara and Pakku went up the steps and walked towards the group. "I'll see you at sunrise tomorrow." Pakku told Katara and Aang, then bid them farewell as he walked back into the palace.

Tyrn gave Katara a happy grin. "You did it! You finally showed that old man what girls can do."

The waterbender just smiled as she high-fived Tyrn. "I got to say, he fights really good." She then turned to Mira. "Oh, you must be Mira, right?"

Mira shook Katara's hand. "Yup! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Katara."

"You know, you're a lot older than I thought you would be, since you're Tyrn's friend after all." Katara said thoughtfully.

Mira shrugged. "Well, after being warped here, time being different here than in our old world and it being a year and all, I'm actually 15 instead of 13."

"WHAT?" The group cringed at Tyrn's outburst. "How the heck can you be older than me? I'm still more mature than you!"

"And what do you mean by that?" Katara and Aang just shook their heads in amusement as the two friends argued while they walked.

* * *

***stretches* Ah, it felt good to proofread that before posting it up. I hoped you guys enjoyed it! Lucky for both you and me I've gotten the first quarter of the next chapter done! Next time you check out this story there will be the newest and most awesomest chapter yet: THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH! *play dramatic music* Please review!**

**Until then, ciao!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hooray for on time posting! :D I've managed to type not only this chapter, but the next one after that so you don't have to wait as long! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/started reading/favorited my story so far! This chapter is the climax of Book 1: the Siege of the North, Part 1! (No, not with part two, or else it would be waaaaaaay too long). Hope you enjoy it!**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever. HOWEVER I do own Mira and Tyrn, so don't steal them! ;)**

* * *

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Tyrn could only laugh hysterically at Mira's scream as they flew over the Northern Water Tribe. The young airbender couldn't even remember how she convinced her best friend to ride with her on a glide that morning, but she was in too much joy to care.

"Come on! It's not that bad!" Tyrn yelled up to Mira.

Mira only screamed louder. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this!"

Tyrn grinned like a crazed psychopath. "I don't even remember myself! Hold on tight!" She sent them into a spiral nosedive, Tyrn laughing in the thrill of flight and Mira trying not to puke.

The second that they touched ground, Mira toppled onto the cold ground, gasping for air and shivering slightly. Tyrn spun her glider closed and leaned over her slightly green friend. "Uh…you okay?"

Tyrn yelped when a large torrent of snow crashed into her. "HEY! That so wasn't fair!" she complained, shaking the flakes from her head.

Mira sat up with a smile. "You almost made me puke in midair and I blasted you with a cannon's force of snow. I think we're pretty much even."

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Not so much when you have half the power of a freaking Ocean Spirit!" She held out her hand and helped her friend up. "Come on; let's go see Katara and Aang at the practice grounds."

The two benders walked up the steps, happily chatting along the way. They stopped, however, when they reached the top to find Katara easily defeat another student.

Mira watched in awe as Katara swept her opponent up into the air with a blast of water, freezing him in a towering prison of spikes. "Someone's been doing extra homework." she murmured.

"It's Katara. What can you expect from someone as focused as she is?" Tyrn asked rhetorically.

Katara grinned as she saw them approach. "Oh hey guys!" she called out.

Tyrn gave her a short applause. "That was some epic bending!" she exclaimed.

"Indeed." They both turned to Pakku. "Katara, you have excelled further and more quickly than any student than I've ever taught. Your skill, persistence and determination have proven that with those qualities you can do anything you desire. And…" he turned to gesture behind him. "…that it takes more than raw talent alone."

The three girls turned and giggled at the sight of Aang, who was lazily hovering Momo in the air on top of a sphere. Tyrn just smiled and took over the air sphere, bringing Momo safely into her arms.

Aang looked confused when his air sphere disappeared, but then spotted the three benders. "Oh, hey guys!"

"Pupil Aang!" Pakku reprimanded him. "Would you care to step into the sparring circle? I figured that since you've found time to play with house pets that you've already mastered waterbending." he stated dryly.

Aang hopped up. "Well, I wouldn't say 'mastered', but check this out!" He quickly bended the snow around him and wound up looking like a snowman.

Tyrn and Mira snickered quietly when Momo leaped to knock Aang over as Pakku and Katara shook their heads.

"Master Pakku?" The old waterbending master turned towards a hesitant Mira. "May I ask you something?"

Pakku raised an eyebrow. "What is it?" He had heard of Mira's ability after being saved by the Ocean Spirit. "You want to learn how to waterbend?"

"Well, sort of." Mira twisted her hands as she spoke. "See, I have trouble waterbending because sometimes the part in me that was healed by the Ocean Spirit takes over. I was thinking…maybe you could teach me some techniques to help control it?"

Pakku pondered for a moment, and then gave her a half smile. "I may have some methods of helping you with that. Come with me." he beckoned her as he turned, and then he addressed his students. "I want you all to spar with each other while I'm gone."

Tyrn fiddled with her staff. "I'm going to check on Appa, so I'll see you guys later."

Katara waved as she easily fended off her opponent. "Okay, see ya Tyrn!"

Twirling open her staff, Tyrn leaped off the top of the stairs and flew over the city. Smiling down at the citizens as she passed over them, the young airbender did a big loop in the air before spiraling down to the area where the animals were kept.

She walked happily over to Appa, who greeted her with a happy rumble. "Good to see you, Appa!" she said, grabbing a bale of hay over to his giant nose. Tyrn laughed when Appa poked her with his blue-black nose before eating the hay. "I'm glad you like it."

Sitting on Appa's giant furry leg as he ate, Tyrn stared up into the clouds, lost in thought. It took a second for her to realize that she was fingering the necklace that Aang had made.

"Ugh, what am I doing?" she muttered to herself. Sighing, Tyrn reached around and undid the necklace, holding it out in front of her. Eyeing the dry, curling flower in the middle, Tyrn laid the necklace on her hand as she thought. "I couldn't have fallen in love, I'm still practically at kid!" she murmured, stroking the flower. "So why am I still hoping?"

Getting an idea, Tyrn turned over the necklace and picked up some snow. Wetting the flower with it to reduce the dryness, Tyrn then blasted it with a small jet of air. When she turned it facing up again, she was pleased to see that it was no longer curling like before, and was almost good as new.

Putting it back on, Tyrn looked up to see Sokka and Yue walking towards her. "Hi Yue, hi Sokka!" she said, getting up.

Yue smiled and walked over to her, giving her a hug. "Hi Tyrn, how have you been?" she asked warmly.

Tyrn shrugged. "It's been _tad _too cold for my tastes, but I've been fine." She rolled her eyes when Sokka scoffed. "So, what are you two doing?"

Yue replied, "Sokka was going to show me Appa." They both turned to said warrior, who had walked up to Appa.

"Sure was!" he smiled at the giant bison. "Appa and I go way back, don't we boy?" He suddenly was tackled by Appa, who started to repeatedly lick his face.

Tyrn and Yue held back their laughter as they looked on. "Looks like you haven't been giving Appa much attention." Yue stated with a smile.

"Or he feels like he's in a glomping mood. Either way, I'm so glad I'm not in that two-person bison pile." Tyrn snickered.

A few moments later (after they had both helped Sokka clean off the saliva from his coat) Tyrn was helping Yue climb onto Appa's saddle next to Sokka.

"So how does this work?" Yue questioned, sitting down.

Tyrn smiled up at them. "All I need to say is that you better hold on tight!" she called up to her.

Sokka smirked. "Yip…yip." Yue started to laugh as they flew up into the air.

Tyrn waved as they flew away. "You guys have fun!" she yelled. "And no funny business!" she added with a grin.

"Shut up Tyrn!" Sokka yelled back. Tyrn could only shake at head, smiling at what was sure to be an awkward moment up in the sky.

Grabbing her staff, Tyrn started to walk back to the palace. She smiled at the people of the Northern Water Tribe, who happily waved at her as she passed. Stopping to admire a fountain, Tyrn was mesmerized as she stared at the clear, flowing water.

She was suddenly brought out of her reverie when the water slowly grew gray and murky. Alarmed, Tyrn looked up into the sky to see black snowflakes falling all over the city.

Holding out her hand, Tyrn caught some of the flakes in her hand. Her eyes widened when she realized what was happening. "Oh my god." she whispered.

Tyrn threw her staff up into the air and caught it as it looped back at her, flying towards the palace as fast as she could, all the while trying not to breathe in the ominous soot falling down.

* * *

The group sat in the large chamber of the palace, talking rapidly amongst the others in the room. Tyrn glanced at Sokka, who looked depressed. Knowing that Yue just told him that she couldn't see him anymore, Tyrn placed a hand on his shoulder. Sokka looked up at her and nodded in thanks. Mira just gave him an understanding look before she looked up at the Chief.

Chief Arnook signaled for his people to be quiet. "The day we have feared for so long has finally arrived." he announced grimly. "The Fire Nation is on our doorstep."

He looked around him. "It is with great sadness that I've called in my family, whose faces may disappear from this tribe forever." Tyrn looked at Yue, whose face showed no emotion as she stared ahead. "They will never vanish, however, from our hearts."

"Now, as we approach the battle for our existence, I call upon the Great Spirits." He raised his hands. "Spirit of the Ocean, Spirit of the Moon! Please be with us in this battle." Arnook called out. Mira and Yue felt a strange sensation pass through them as Arnook's call rang out in the large chamber, as if the parts of their soul that had been touched by the Moon and Ocean Spirits were responding.

Arnook addressed the crowd in front of him. "I'm going to need to ask for volunteers for a dangerous mission."

Tyrn, Katara, Aang and Mira looked up in shock as Sokka stood up determinedly. "I'm in!" he declared.

Mira stood up as well. "Count me in, too!" she said, ignoring the stares she got.

Katara looked worried. "Sokka, Mira!" she whispered as they both walked up to the stage.

Tyrn patted her shoulder. "Sokka and Mira are more than capable for this, they'll be fine." she assured the worried waterbender, even though Tyrn was worried for her friends' safety as well.

"Many of you will not return. Come forward if you wish to accept my task and receive my mark." Arnook told the men (and Mira) who had stood up.

Mira was the first to walk up to Arnook, who gave her a small smile for her bravery and marked her forehead. Sokka made his way to the Chief, who also marked three lines on his forehead. Turning to walk away, Sokka glanced back at Yue, who sadly turned her head away. Sokka sighed and continued to walk, not noticing the silent tears on the princess's cheeks.

* * *

Tyrn stood next to Aang, who was on top of a small stand at the top of the stairs. She looked out over the quiet city, feeling the tenseness in the air.

Arnook walked out behind them. "The silence before a battle is almost too much to bear." he stated, eyebrows creased with worry. "It is such a quiet dread."

Aang sighed as he continued to look forward. "I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked by people." He hopped off his stand. "I'm going to make a difference this time." Arnook nodded as he walked away, called upon by his advisor.

"You know something?" Aang turned to Tyrn, who spoke up. "Even though I'm not officially part of the Air Nomads or this world, I'm going to fight like I was meant to be here." She looked up, a flame of determination in her eyes. "So if you're going to fight in the spirit of your people, I'll do it for them too."

Aang smiled and gave her a hug. "That really means a lot, thanks." he whispered, making Tyrn blush at the close contact.

Tyrn smiled back as she broke the hug. "Let's do this thing." she grinned.

Running up to them, Katara adjusted her water skins around her belt. "Come on, let's get to the gate." Katara said, looking up when she saw Sokka fly over on Appa. All three of them nodded as they got on, soaring over to where the other warriors were patiently waiting for the onslaught of fireballs.

Touching down, Katara and Sokka hopped off and stood against the half-wall, staring out over the cold sea. Tyrn and Aang had decided to take on the ships on Appa, and were seated on the furry bison, staffs in hand.

A sudden ball of light was launched into the air by a black spot on the horizon, flying towards the group. Tyrn's eyes widened when the fiery ball came faster and closer, its aim at the wall. "EVERYONE DUCK!" she yelled, gripping the saddle moments before the impact.

Everyone screamed as the fireball blew through the lower part of the wall, sending icy chunks into the ocean and people flying. More of them started to fly towards them, soaring overhead.

Appa roared as he moved away from the fireball. "Appa, yip yip!" Aang yelled, sending Appa into the sky.

Tyrn looked back at the crumbling wall, and was relieved to see Katara and Sokka escape unharmed from the fireballs. Turning back to face forward, she gripped her staff as they approached the first Fire Nation ship. "This is going to be fun." she said with a smirk.

With a yell, Aang flung away a fireball coming at them, sending it to the side of the cliff. "Appa, we'll take it from here!" he told his loyal beast, and the two airbenders leaped off Appa, flying on their staffs down to the ship.

Tyrn rolled into a crouch on the metal ship, quickly whirling around her staff to sweep away the soldiers. Jumping up, she airbended a soldier overboard before blocking a punch from another.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tyrn grinned at Aang, who was running around and messing with the fireball launchers. She quickly somersaulted over two soldiers, causing them to run into each other, and ran over to Aang to help with the sabotage.

Aang quickly grabbed a hammer and banged the chain into the ground before dodging another soldier. The snagged launcher merely slammed its fiery cargo into the hull of the ship, creating a rather large gap on the deck.

Raising an eyebrow, Tyrn tied together two of the launcher's chains before airbending over to Aang, whose foot was on the release lever. "Should I be afraid that you're being too enthusiastic about this?" she stated with a grin.

"Yup!" Aang grinned back, stepping on the release lever and grabbing Tyrn out of the way. They laughed slightly as the launchers flipped over one other before slamming into the tower of the ship.

Running over to the last launcher, Aang didn't notice the menacing brute with the two hammers on chains walk towards him. Tyrn's eyes widened as he swung the hammers around, trying to hit the Avatar.

Tyrn looked up and yelled for Appa. "Hey Appa, need help with a hammer happy bad guy!" She smiled as Appa swooped down, grabbing the brute in his gigantic foot before dropping him overboard.

Aang quickly ran over and leaped onto Appa's head. "Thanks for the rescue buddy!" he said happily.

Tyrn leaped onto his saddle. "Come on! It looks like the waterbenders will finish this up!" she said, glancing at the Water Tribe boats coming towards them. Aang nodded as he got the reins and directed Appa to fly off, leaving the ship as it was being hoisted out of the water by large icicles.

The two airbender's faces changed to horror as they saw the massive Fire Nation navy ahead of them. There were literally over 50 navy ships in formation, fireballs ready to be lit and launched.

Tyrn groaned as she took in the sight, while Aang just looked at it incredulously. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" he exclaimed.

* * *

Mira stood with the others as they were briefed by Chief Arnook, spears in their hands. The other men looked at her curiously, she being the only girl in the room, but she just ignored them as she looked at Arnook.

"Men…and Mira," Mira grinned as Sokka gave her a thumbs up while Arnook continued, "You will be infiltrating the Fire Nation navy. You will all need to wear these uniforms." He gestured to Hahn, who was wearing an outdated navy uniform.

Everyone turned to Mira and Sokka, who were snickering. "What's your guys' problem?" Hahn asked snobbishly.

Sokka pointed at the uniform. "Fire Navy uniforms don't look like that."

Hahn narrowed his eyes. "What the heck are you talking about, these are actual uniforms captured from actual Fire Navy soldiers."

"Yeah, when spikes that could poke your eyes out were all the rage." Mira said sarcastically as she and Sokka walked up to Hahn.

Sokka looked over the uniform. "When did you acquire these uniforms?" Sokka asked Arnook.

"85 years ago, I believe." Arnook replied.

Mira flicked at the spiky shoulder pads. "The Fire Navy doesn't use spikes on their shoulder pads anymore, they're more streamlined."

Hahn looked irritatedly at Mira. "How do we know we can trust you two? Such bold talk from new recruits…and girls." Mira and Sokka glared at Hahn, who glared right back.

Arnook frowned upon Hahn's behavior. "Sokka is from our sister tribe, and while Mira may be a woman, both she and Sokka and more than capable for this mission, and I value their input." Sokka looked smugly at Hahn when Arnook spoke.

"Now, our first objective is to identify their commanding officer." Arnook raised an eyebrow when Mira raised her hand. "Yes, Mira?"

"His name is Zhao." Mira recalled from watching the series.

Sokka added to Mira's statement. "Middle aged, big sideburns, bigger temper…" he grinned at the last part.

"He looks sort of like a monkey if you look at him straight on." Mira continued.

Arnook nodded. "Sokka and Mira, I want both of you to tell everything you know to Hahn. He is leading this mission. And Hahn, I expect you to show both of them your respect. I wouldn't expect nothing less from my future son-in-law." He told them before walking out of the room.

Sokka gaped at Hahn. "Princess Yue is marrying you?"

Hahn looked indifferent. "Yeah, what of it?"

Sokka turned away, a scowl on his face. "Nothing…congratulations." He turned away to start sharpening the spears for battle.

"Why?" Hahn turned to Mira, who had a look of disgust on her face. "Why the heck are you marrying Yue?"

Hahn shrugged as he sharpened his knife. "I've dated a lot of girls in my past, but Yue is the finest." Mira felt a vein pop up on her forehead as he continued. "And she comes with the most perks."

"Perks?" Sokka yelled as Mira clenched her fist.

"I mean, Yue is nice and everything, but the points with the Chief isn't bad either." Hahn smirked as he examined his knife before picking up another one.

Sokka glared down as his axe. "Princess Yue is wasted on a self-absorbed jerk like you." he stated angrily.

Hahn raised an eyebrow at Sokka. "Whoa, wait! What do you care?" he asked suspiciously. "You're just a simple peasant from the Southern Water Tribe, an outcast who doesn't know the political complexities of OUR life, no offense." he finished with a smirk. "Who cares about marrying for love? I could care less if Yue jumped off a bridge...after we get married, of course."

Hahn was taken off guard as Mira and Sokka tackled him in fury. He tried to hold off Mira's punches as she yelled at him. "How DARE you try and take advantage of Yue like that, you SEXIST MACHOISTIC PIG!"

Sokka joined her in wrestling Hahn. "You're just a jerk without a soul, _no offense!_" the outraged warrior shouted. The three of them rolled around on the floor for a few minutes until a loud voice halted their actions.

"THAT'S ENOUGH." Chief Arnook yanked Hahn away from Sokka and Mira. "Sokka and Mira, you two are off the mission."

"What?" Mira yelled. "It was his fault!" she pointed at Hahn, who was smirking. But Chief Arnook didn't hear her as he walked away.

"Alright, fall in men!" Hahn called out in his jerkiness. "Everyone listen to what I say and we'll show that Admiral Cho who's boss!" he smirked at Sokka and Mira before walking away.

Sokka yelled exasperatedly after him. "It's Admiral ZHAO!" Both of them crossed their arms in anger as the men left the room.

"God, I'd love to punch that jerk's pompous ego right into the ocean." Mira muttered, and then sighed. "Sorry I went and picked a fight with him. I should've told you to stay out of it."

Sokka shook his head. "Nah, its fine. Either way I was going to take him out. By the way, remind me never to get on your bad side, you punch hard…for a girl." he joked.

Mira rolled her eyes. "Don't mess with me, I can kick your butt faster than the Kyoshi Warriors did." she stated, the power of the Ocean Spirit in her eyes as she spoke.

Sokka laughed nervously as they idly sharpened their weapons; Sokka his boomerang and Mira a short katana. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Yue and Katara observed the ships as the fireballs raining on the city slowly stopped. "They've stopped firing." Yue stated, and both of them looked up when a familiar furry bison appeared over the gates.

"Aang, Tyrn!" Katara yelled, and both of them ran down to meet the two. They were surprised to see Tyrn handing the reins, Aang heaving from exhaustion next to her.

Appa tiredly laid down as Aang slid down Appa's leg. "I can't do it…I can't do it." Aang whispered, hugging his knees.

"What happened?" Katara asked worriedly.

Tyrn sighed as she flew down next to Aang, sitting next to him. "There were so many of those ships…Aang and I tried to do too much." she stated, her weariness shown in her slumped shoulders.

Aang held his head in his hands. "We must've taken down a dozen Fire Navy ships each, but there was just too many of them." He looked down, upset and worn out.

"But…" Yue clasped her hands. "You have to! You're the Avatar!" She looked at Tyrn. "And you're one of the last airbenders, you have to!"

Aang just shook his head, hiding his head in his arms. Tyrn wearily put a hand on his shoulder. "We're just kids." she said softly, heartbroken to see Aang almost break down. Katara helped both of them up and helped support them as the group of four walked up to the palace.

The moon was high up in the sky after Aang and Tyrn had taken a well-needed nap. Tyrn yawned as she got up and stretched, feeling her neck crack. She got up and walked out to the terrace, leaning against the ledge as she stared at the moon.

Tyrn heard the door open behind her and turned her head, seeing Aang rub his eyes as he walked out. "How was your nap?" she asked.

Aang shrugged. "It was good. Yours?" he asked in return.

Tyrn looked down. "Not that great." She sighed as she looked out. "You know, even though it's great being an airbender, it's tough to know that everyone expects me to do more since I'm the only one besides you." She stopped for a moment. "Maybe I should do more, you know, since I know more about what's going to happen." she said guiltily.

"Now you know how I feel." Aang stated, placing his arms on the ledge. "But no one expects you to do more because you KNOW more." he assured her. "Just refer to it when you need to, like what you did with Jet."

Tyrn nodded. "I try to block out the episodes most of the time, and it's not that hard when all of this is happening." she smiled lightly. "Who has time to remember when you're busy screwing with the Fire Navy ships?" The two smiled at each other as they recalled their tactics of stopping the ships.

The two turned to find Katara and Yue walk up to them. "Oh, you guys are up!" Katara placed a hand on the railing as she faced them. "Are you guys feeling better?"

Aang smiled at her. "Much better, actually." He sighed as he turned to look out again. "I wish we could come up with a better way to take out the ships, though."

"Yeah, I mean, fooling around with their fireball launchers is fun, but it gets way to tiring and tedious after the first seven ships." Tyrn agreed. "I wish the moon could help us, it's a pretty powerful waterbender all on its own."

Yue nodded. "Our legends say that the moon was the first waterbender, and our ancestors saw how it manipulated the tides and learned how to do it themselves."

Katara looked thoughtful. "I always noticed how my waterbending is stronger at night."

Yue continued. "Our strength comes from the spirit of the moon; our life comes from the spirit of the ocean. They work together to keep balance." she explained.

"The spirits!" The three girls raised an eyebrow when Aang perked up excitedly. "Maybe I can find them and get their help!"

The princess looked confused. "How can you do that?"

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the spirit world. Aang can talk to them!" Katara revealed to Yue.

Yue suddenly grew hopeful. "Maybe they can give you the wisdom to win this battle!"

"Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy awesome spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" Aang gestured widely.

Katara and Yue just stared at him as Tyrn giggled. "That might be truer than you know…" Tyrn murmured to herself.

Aang blinked. "Or wisdom…wisdom's good too." he said sheepishly.

"There's a problem." They looked at Katara. "Last time you got to the Spirit World it was an accident. How are you going to get there this time?"

Yue smiled. "I have an idea. Follow me!" she turned and started walking, Tyrn just smiling knowingly at Katara and Aang before following Yue.

* * *

"Hello, spirits!" Tyrn said softly so that the others couldn't hear as she knelt down at the edge of the pond. The group had just discovered the warm, grassy Spirit Oasis behind the palace. She could almost swear that the Ocean Spirit looked knowingly at her for a second before resuming its dance.

Aang walked across from Tyrn at the small indent over the pond. "You're right Yue; this place is so peaceful. So…" he searched for the right word, "…tranquil!" He got into his meditating position and closed his eyes.

The three girls crept quietly behind Aang. A few minutes passed before the silence was broken.

"Why is he sitting like that?" Yue asked.

Katara whispered back. "He's meditating; trying to pass over into the Spirit World. It takes all of his concentration."

Yue shifted a little. "Is there anyway we can help?"

Aang whirled around exasperatedly. "How about some peace and quiet! Come on guys, I can hear every word you're saying." The two Water Tribe girls mumbled their apologies.

The group sat there for a few more minutes before Aang sighed again. "It's just not working!" he cried out.

"Hey Aang?" he turned to Tyrn, who had decided to interfere once again. "You notice how the fish are always swimming with each other?"

"Huh?" They all looked at the two black and white koi in the pond.

Yue shrugged. "I don't know why they do that…it's almost like they're two halves of a whole I guess."

Aang stared at the dancing koi. "Two halves…" The fish swam before his eyes, slowly merging to form a Ying Yang symbol before he was consumed by a light.

The girls' eyes widened when Aang's tattoos and eyes lit up in a bright, electric blue light. "What's happening?" Yue asked worriedly. "Is he alright?"

Katara nodded. "He's crossing over to the Spirit World." She looked slightly concerned. "He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back into the real world."

Yue still hesitated. "Maybe we should get some help?"

"Look, he's our friend." Tyrn assured her. "Two benders who are almost masters are perfectly capable of protecting him." Katara and Tyrn smiled at each other.

"Well…aren't you two big girls now." They all whirled around to see Zuko stalking over the bridge, panting and soaked to the bone.

Tyrn groaned. "What are you, a stalker?" she said irritatedly. Both Katara and Tyrn got into a fighting position as Yue ran off to get Sokka and Mira.

Zuko roared as he kicked and punched fire blasts at Tyrn, who deflected them each time with whirling kicks. Katara ran forward and bended a large torrent of water from the pond, sending it straight into the Fire Nation prince.

He spat out the water as he got up. "I see you two learned some new tricks. But I didn't come this far to lose to you!"

He blasted another fiery shot at Katara, who shielded herself with a water shield. She let out a grunt as she pushed Zuko back against the wall. Katara glared fiercely as she went through a complex technique, making Tyrn widen her eyes as she encased Zuko in an icy dome-like prison.

"You little peasant…" Zuko spat out venomously as he increased the heat inside the dome. "You've found a master, haven't you?" He yelled as the dome exploded, sending its icy shards all over as Zuko leaped out, attacking the two once again.

Katara and Zuko fended off each other's element as Zuko inched closer and closer to Aang. Throwing the waterbender off-balance, Zuko quickly ran over and just managed to grab the back of Aang's collar.

Unfortunately for him, he forgot that Tyrn was in the area. "Get away from him!" she screeched as she let out a mighty tornado, sweeping Zuko up against the opposite cliff. Katara quickly bended large waves to hold him against the cliff, 20 feet high off the ground in a spiky icicle hill that was similar to the one she conjured against her sparring partner much earlier.

Tyrn and Katara sighed in relief as Zuko appeared to be knocked out from the attack. They landed on the ground in exhaustion as they took in a breath.

"Operation: Protect Aang has been successful so far!" Tyrn smiled as she looked at Katara.

"Uh, not for long!" Katara said worriedly, as she pointed behind her. Tyrn and Katara gasped as Zuko suddenly awoke, melting the spikes holding him and slid down the slope. They quickly got up to defend themselves, but as Zuko unleashed a powerful fire blow, they were each knocked into the wooden poles, rendering them unconscious.

Tyrn opened her eyes a little as her head pounded, and her eyes widened a little as she saw Zuko grab Aang. She watched in pain as Zuko started to escape. "You rise with the moon…I rise with the sun." Tyrn heard Zuko state as he disappeared from sight.

The injured airbender just laid on the ground as the pain in her skull slowly died down to a dull ache. Tyrn stayed there for a couple of minutes before finally deciding on what she should do.

"Don't worry, Aang. I'm coming."

* * *

**Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUN...**

**Please leave me reviews on what you thought of this chappie! In the next chapter we will continue the Siege of the North and wrap it up. Notice how I didn't say wrap up Book 1 just yet...*coughHINTcough***

**Until then, ciao!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hooray for more writing over the weekend! I thank all of you who reviewed/favorited my story, I get excited every time I find a new one in my email. :) This chapter is the last half of the Siege of the North, where things get a little emotional... :)**

**Thank you to Emma Fried, who gave me an idea to use in this chapter! :) Still considering the Zutara note, however...**

**I don't own A:TLA, nor will I ever. HOWEVER I own Tyrn and Mira, so get your greedy hands off them!**

* * *

Katara woke up with a start. She gasped as she remembered what had transpired before she passed out. Frantically looking around, Katara started to panic. "Aang!" she shouted, searching the area.

"Katara!" The waterbender looked up and saw Appa come down into the Oasis, Sokka, Mira and Yue on his back.

Sokka quickly ran down Appa's tail and ran toward Katara. "Are you okay? Where's Aang?"

"It was Zuko." Katara said fretfully. "He took him right out from under me." Momo sat sadly in the place where Aang was meditating.

Sokka looked worried. "You did everything you could, and now it's our job to get him back. Zuko couldn't have gotten far. We'll find him." he tried to reassure his sister. "Where did they go?" he asked.

"Um, guys?" The siblings turned to face Mira. "Where's Tyrn?"

They suddenly looked around the Oasis, looking for any sign of the young airbender. "I don't know. She got knocked out the same time I did." Katara said.

Sokka searched the ground when he let out a yell. "Hey, look at this!" Katara and Yue walked over to where Sokka was pointing.

Etched into the grass was a large arrow, pointing to the cliffs behind them. From what they could see, there was a set of footprints leading from that spot that stopped a few feet away.

Mira gasped. "Those must be Tyrn's footsteps! She must've gotten her glider and went after Zuko and Aang."

Yue looked troubled. "The arrow is pointing to on top of the cliff; there is often a fierce blizzard up there."

Katara ran onto Appa's saddle. "Then we'd better hurry." she said. She looked at Momo, who purred sadly at her. "It's okay Momo. You can stay here in case Aang and Tyrn come back." The group hurriedly flew up into the blizzard above them, searching for their best friends.

* * *

Tyrn shivered as she flew, every so often shaking the snow from weighing down her glider. _Now that I think about it, flying in zero degree temperatures through a blizzard isn't exactly my best idea. _She thought sarcastically to herself.

She followed the trail that Zuko had made by waddling through the snow, and soon spotted a dim glow moving ahead of her. _Aang!_

Tilting the glider down, she swooped down near the snow and sped along the white surface, trying to catch up with Zuko. Her eyes widened when she heard audible cracks from some ice, and flew faster as she saw Zuko struggling to escape the cracks following him.

Tyrn quickly caught up to the Fire Nation prince and extended her arm as far as she could. Just as Zuko slipped on the cracking ice, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled, sending all three of them sprawling into the deep snow. The ice crumbled into a deep abyss behind them.

Shivering, Tyrn shot up and turned to Zuko, who had raised his fist at her. "What the hell are you doing?" she heard him shout over the wind.

"Saving your freaking butt, that's what!" she shouted back. Panting as she wobbly used her wet staff to stand up in the snow, Tyrn pointed at a small cave a couple feet away. "Can we please try and kill each other in that cave instead of out here?" she asked rhetorically.

Zuko glared, and then mutely hauled Aang over to the cave. Tyrn followed him, stumbling onto the cold floor of the small shelter.

Tyrn crawled over to a corner of a cave and started to shiver. She glanced up at Zuko, who was busy tying Aang up. "Y-you do r-realize I'm g-gonna just k-knock you out and s-save A-Aang, r-right?" she spoke through her chattering teeth.

The prince continued to tie Aang's wrists together. "You're in no condition to fight me." he stated. Tying the last knot, Zuko looked out of the mouth of the cave. "It looks like we're going to be here for a while, so I don't think we should try and kill each other while we're here." He crawled over to sit across from Tyrn, warming his hands with his fire breath.

Tyrn tried to get up and take a fighting stance, but quickly fell to the ground in exhaustion. "You h-have a good p-point." she sighed. "Fine, t-truce." She shivered once again, but more violently this time.

Zuko stared at her for a second, and then turned to the deeper end of the cave. In a few minutes, he had made a small fire, its embers lighting up the small cave.

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "Why make a fire? You've g-got your fire breath."

"I can't let you and the Avatar die out here; I can't have a dead Avatar and a dead airbender on my hands." he stated indifferently.

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "Well I'm glad you care so much about my wellbeing." she stated dryly, and scooted closer to the fire to keep herself relatively warm. Rubbing her hands, Tyrn slowly felt the feeling come back into her body.

She almost didn't notice that Zuko had started talking. "I've finally gotten the Avatar, and I can't him home because of this stupid blizzard." He got up and stood at the entrance. "And I'm stuck with a stupid airbender who wanted to save her boyfriend. There's always something!"

Tyrn hoped the fire hid her blush. "If it wasn't for me your broken body would be at the bottom of an abyss right now." she muttered.

"You two wouldn't understand." Zuko stated. "Especially the Avatar….he's just like my sister." Tyrn raised an eyebrow when Zuko mentioned his evil sister. "Everything used to come easy to her. _She's_ a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her."

He scowled. "My father said she was born lucky, and I was lucky to be born." He continued to stare outside. "I don't need luck, though. I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight, and that's made me strong." Zuko turned away from the howling flurry of snow. "It's made me who I am."

Tyrn was quiet for a moment. "You're wrong about one thing though." Zuko looked bemused. "I do understand. I've seen what you're going through, and I completely agree that it isn't happy double rainbows. And by the way, your sister needs to be sent to the cuckoo hut, if you know what I'm saying."

Zuko cracked half a grin as he sat down. "It's nice to know somebody who understands." he admitted.

Tyrn grinned back. "I've known to have that affect on people." she shrugged. "And I can kind of know what you've been through in a literal sense, too."

"What do you mean?" Zuko looked at Tyrn.

Tyrn hugged her knees. "My family wasn't as messed up as yours (no offense) but my situation was like yours in reverse. I was the one my parents always bragged about. "Oh, Tyrn is the next great musician! Tyrn's made another masterpiece! Tyrn's as sweet as a gumdrop!" That wouldn't have bothered me much if I didn't have a brother."

She exhaled. "He was just as smart as I was, maybe even more…even if he couldn't play the triangle or draw a proper stick figure. We argued like siblings do and had each other's back in our house. He didn't show it, but I could tell that he was upset because it seemed like I was the perfect child, the favorite. And I didn't like it. I hated being compared to, like I was some standard." Tyrn hit her fist on the floor in slight frustration. "And even though I was the youngest, I was treated like I should know everything, should do everything right."

Tyrn looked at Zuko, who was silent through out her small speech. "It sounds silly, doesn't it?"

"Actually, it doesn't." Zuko replied. "I just think your brother is lucky. I would give anything to have my sister be like that."

"You mean a insane person of the fine arts and spazzy attitudes?" Tyrn smiled a little. "I'll take that as a compliment." She crossed her arms and got comfortable. "But now that we're finished spilling our unsightly family troubles into the air, you shouldn't get used to the fuzzy friendly me, because as soon as Aang gets back from the spirit world I'll take you on."

"I expected as much." Zuko said, quoting her from when they had last met when he was the Blue Spirit.

The blizzard had eventually died down as the hours passed, with just the two of them sitting in silence as they waited for something to happen. A bright light flashed outside the cave, and Tyrn looked up in time to see the bright jet of white-blue light zoom pass her, settling into Aang's body. She smiled when Aang came to, coming back from the Spirit World.

Aang didn't see her as he struggled with his binds, and he quickly sat up when he noticed Zuko standing just feet away from him.

Zuko stared at him. "Welcome back." he stated, glancing behind Aang.

"Good to be back." Aang glared back, not noticing the direction of Zuko's gaze.

Tyrn pretended to check her watch. "Well, time's up!" she stated, and Tyrn ran past Aang's surprised face as she jumped at Zuko, slamming him into the rocky wall. She quickly grabbed her staff and Aang by the collar, airbending out of the cave and going as fast as she could into the snow.

"Tyrn? What were you doing here?" Aang asked as they tried to hurry along.

"Finally getting a chance to save your butt, now hop!" she ordered, but the two quickly stopped when Zuko leaped in front of them, sending a wave of fire to stop them.

"That's not going to be enough to escape." he said, glancing at Tyrn's still un-flyable staff.

Aang let out a whoop as Appa flew into sight. "Appa!" The giant beast landed with a muffled thump as Katara jumped down.

Zuko turned away from Aang and Tyrn as he faced Katara. "Back for a rematch?" he asked.

"Trust me, it won't be much of a rematch." Katara glared as she quickly bended the snow around her, melting it and blasting Zuko upwards, this time freezing him 50 feet in the air before slamming him into the ground, effectively knocking him out.

Sokka and Mira ran over to Aang and helped Tyrn cut his binds. "Hey, this is some quality rope!" Sokka exclaimed.

Mira rolled her eyes. "The two of them just survived an apocalyptic blizzard, and all you say is something about the rope?" she shook her head in disbelief, and gave Tyrn a fierce hug. "Good to see you, Tyrn."

Aang hurried to get untied. "The Spirits are in trouble, we need to get to the Oasis!"

Tyrn's eyes widened, remembering Zhao's plan with the koi fish. "Right!" But as she got up, Tyrn hesitated as she looked back at Zuko, half covered in snow.

The group was puzzled as Tyrn went over to help Zuko up. "What are you doing?" Yue asked curiously.

"I'm not going to have someone's frozen death on my conscience, even if it's Zuko's. We can't just leave him here." Tyrn stated, hauling an unconscious Zuko over to the saddle.

"Sure we can! Let's go." Sokka retorted, not fond of bring the Fire Nation "scum" as he not-so-kindly put it.

Aang frowned. "Tyrn's right. If we leave him, he'll die." he agreed, hopping down to help haul Zuko up.

Sokka still was unhappy with the decision. "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us!" he remarked sarcastically as they flew off.

It was only a few minutes before they took off before something went horribly wrong. The group was shocked as the sky turned red, an ominous blood-red crimson.

Yue, Mira and Aang held their heads in pain as Sokka, Katara and Tyrn looked worried. "I feel…faint." Yue muttered.

"My head feels like it's about to fall off." Mira groaned.

Aang clutched his head. "I feel it too. The Moon Spirit must be in trouble." he realized, and ordered Appa to fly faster.

Mira and Tyrn exchanged frantic looks. _Zhao!_

Yue looked down. "I owe the Moon Spirit my life."

"What do you mean?" Sokka inquired.

Yue began the tale of her birth, Katara and Sokka listening raptly in attention. Mira turned to Tyrn and gave her a questioning look. "Why didn't you just knock out Zuko and flown back to us with Aang?"

Tyrn settled into the saddle. "Let's just say Zuko and I were on a peace treaty since we had to wait out the blizzard. And I didn't want to become a human popsicle, rare airbender flavor."

The group was silent as they flew back to the Spirit Oasis. When they finally made it over the cliff, Tyrn was amused to find Momo scratching at Zhao's face. The group touched down, and Momo flew over to Aang, wrapping his tail around his arm.

The Gaang seemed to be at a silent stare-off against Zhao, who had raised his fist at a squirming bag that held the Moon Spirit.

"Don't…bother." Zhao seethed, threatening them with the bag and his fist, ready to fry the koi inside.

Aang's eyes widened as he dropped his staff. "Zhao, don't!" he warned him.

Zhao looked determined. "It's my destiny…to destroy the Water Tribe and the Moon Spirit!" he exclaimed.

"Destroying the Moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you." Aang tried to talk Zhao out of it. "Without the Moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash into the world!"

"He is right, Zhao." Everyone turned to see General Iroh making is way over to them. Iroh glanced curiously at the Gaang, especially at Mira and Tyrn before confronting Zhao.

"General Iroh." Zhao stated with menace. "Why am I not surprised to see your treachery?"

Iroh removed his hood. "I am no traitor Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the Moon as well. We all depend on the balance." When Zhao didn't move, Iroh got angry. "Whatever you do to that Moon Spirit, I will unleash on you ten fold! LET IT GO, NOW!" he demanded, surprising everyone with the fury in his voice.

Zhao glared furiously at Iroh, but he slowly complied with his orders. Bending down, he let the Moon Spirit back into the water.

No one expected the next move he did, and not even Mira or Tyrn could predict when he did it. Zhao let out a roar as he unleashed a slash of fire onto the two Koi. Everyone gasped in shock as everything turned black and white, and the moon disappeared from the sky.

Iroh let out a yell as he charged at Zhao, who backed away as his guards tried to take on Iroh. By the time Iroh had disposed of them, Zhao was missing and was gone from the scene.

Tyrn looked on in complete despair as she took in the sight. The white koi fish was dead, no doubt about it. Its black mate swam around the corpse in an awkward circle.

Yue was about to cry. "It's over….it's all over." She stated miserably, leaning into Sokka.

"**No. It's not over.**" A sudden movement brought everyone's attention to the pond. Aang was standing in the middle of the pond, the black koi fish circling Aang in a wavy fashion. The fish stopped in front of Aang, and both of their eyes started to glow.

Katara and Tyrn gasped when Aang was sucked underneath the water, as if pulled in by an unseen force. The water all around them soon started to glow and patterns started to crawl across the surface, similar to lightning bolts. As it surged past the bridges, it grew upwards before forming a giant monster that resembled the koi's features but with a Godzilla type body. Tyrn peered through the bright light to see the vague form of Aang inside, directing the KoiZilla's movements.

KoiZilla raised its arms as it towered over the city. Passing over the palace, it started to take out the Fire Nation soldiers, the citizens of the Water Tribe bowing as it moved by them. It made its way to the front of city, sweeping the tanks off their tracks and into the canals.

Meanwhile, Iroh lowered the Moon Spirit into the water. "It's too late." Katara said sadly. "It's dead." They all closed their eyes as they mourned, but Tyrn opened hers when she heard Iroh look at Yue in astonishment.

"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit!" he exclaimed quietly. "Some of its life is still in you!" Yue's eyes opened to show that they were still a brilliant blue.

"You're right." She slowly blinked. "It gave me life...maybe I can give it back."

Sokka looked shocked as Yue stood up. He quickly stood up to hold her back. "No! You don't have to do this!"

Yue looked grim. "It's my duty, Sokka."

"I won't let you!" Sokka protested. "Your father told me to protect you!" he tightened his hold on her hand.

"I won't let you either." Everyone taken aback as Mira stood up. "I'll take your place and give my life energy that the Ocean Spirit gave me."

Tyrn stood up next to her. "Mira!" she exclaimed, shocked by her decision. "Are you crazy? Besides, I don't think you can. You were touched by the Ocean Spirit, not the Moon Spirit."

Iroh spoke up. "Actually, she can." The group turned towards the old man. "If what you're saying is true, and that your friend has been touched by the Ocean Spirit, she can interchange the life of the two koi since both are united together as a single force."

Tyrn looked stubborn. "Either way, I'm not going to lose my best friend again!"

"So what, you're just going to sacrifice Yue instead?" Sokka retorted angrily.

"Sokka, shut up!" Mira snapped at him, and Sokka backed off, surprised.

Yue put a hand on Mira's arm. "You don't have to do this for me. It's my duty as Princess to serve my peo-"

Everyone was shocked when Mira quickly bended a stream of fast moving water around her, the speeding ring causing the rest to back away. "NO. Any of you try to stop me and I won't hesitate to knock you out." The threat in her eyes was as clear as the specks of glowy blue in her dark eyes.

"Yue, your duty is to help serve your people. You're needed here, me not so much. Tyrn," she looked at Tyrn from the corner of her eye. "You're not gonna lose me. I'll be here, no matter what, in person or in spirit." Mira gave her best friend a sad smile as she said this.

Mira started to walk into the pond, the ring around her moving to block the others from following her. Tyrn struggled against the water. "Mira!"

She paid Tyrn no heed as she picked up the white koi in her hands. Both Mira and the fish started to glow, the bright light causing everyone to shield their eyes.

Tyrn started to panic. "MIRA!" she shouted again, but got no response.

Slowly, the light started to die down, and the group removed their hands and gasped at what they saw. Mira had transformed, now wearing a shining new dress that was colored sheer white and dark blue, and her form was almost blinding to look at as she glowed. Mira slipped the now revived koi into the water, letting it join its mate.

She turned and faced the group once more, dropping the water shielding them back. "Goodbye all. I'll miss you." She smiled sadly as she floated up to Tyrn. "See ya later, BFF." she smiled a little more.

Tyrn leaped up and gave Mira a tight hug. "You better be here in spirit or else I'm coming after you, mallet in hand." she whispered as her voice shook.

Mira hugged her back. "I'll keep you to that." she stated as she slowly disappeared, vanishing into the air.

Everything around them soon got back its color as the moon reappeared in the sky. Katara, Sokka and Yue went forward to comfort Tyrn, whose shoulders were shaking slightly as she tried to keep in her tears.

* * *

In the next hours that followed, the group soon rejoined Aang and the other waterbenders who had fought, Iroh disappearing with a short goodbye to the group.

"By the way…" Tyrn had caught Iroh before he left. "Tell Zuko that Tyrn wishes both of you safe travels." she smiled through her watery eyes. "He's going to need it."

Iroh bowed to her. "Your friend was very brave, admirable even. Until we meet again, of which I am sure we will." Iroh replied. The two gave each other a quick handshake before Iroh vanished.

Katara was talking to Master Pakku as Sokka and Tyrn walked up to Chief Arnook and Yue. The chief was shaken when he found out Mira sacrificed herself in order to keep Yue alive. "When Yue was born, I had a vision that she would turn into the Moon Spirit. But your friend gave her a chance at living, and I am forever in your friend's debt." Arnook told Tyrn as Sokka and Yue walked away to find a private corner.

Tyrn's eyes were red and puffy as she gave a small smile to the Chief. "I'm sure Mira would be flattered." she said, and quickly walked away to Appa, not wanting to look so sad in front of the Chief.

Aang and Katara saw Tyrn sitting sadly on Appa's saddle as he approached her. "Hey Tyrn? Are you okay?" Aang asked in concern, who had heard from Katara what had transpired at the Oasis when Tyrn slammed the door to her room and locked it last night.

Tyrn jumped when she saw Aang airbend up. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine…" she said gloomily as she quickly removed her hand from her necklace before Aang saw this.

"Listen…" Katara began. "You know if you need anyone to talk to, we're here, right? You don't have to go through this alone, Mira was a great friend."

Tyrn smiled gratefully. "Thanks, but I don't think I need anyone for the time being."

"Aw, who wants a hug?" Aang grinned at her, spreading his arms wide as he tried to cheer her up.

Tyrn jumped away and started running, Aang and Katara laughing as they chased behind her. "Get away from me you serial huggers!" she yelled as she giggled slightly, almost plowing into Sokka as he approached.

_You guys are the best._

* * *

**No, poor Mira! Don't worry, I'm sure this won't be the last time you'll see our awesome Mira Moon Spirit. :) **

_**IMPORTANT NOTE! **_**I will be writing a chapter between Book 1 and 2 before I launch myself into the Avatar State episode, so be looking out for that...hopefully I'll post it on Friday! I'll probably do the same with Book 2 and 3, but I'm not telling you what either of those stories will be! Being evil is sweet...**

**Read and Review! It always helps!**

**Until then, ciao!**


	16. Chapter 16

**YAY FOR NEW CHAPTER! I freaking love this one and I hope you do too, since this is my originial own mini episode between Book 1 and Book 2!**

**Tyrn: Hey, why am I a freaking emo for most of this?**

**Because I said so, now shut up.**

**Aang: Why the heck did you use the Jonas Brothers in this chapter?**

**Because I like their music, now shut up. **

**Sokka: Why isn't there any mention of seal jerky in this chapter?**

**SHUT UP! *chases off the characters with a mallet.* Whew. Now, without further ado, Chapter 16!**

**I don't own A:TLA or Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers, nor will I ever. HOWEVER I do own Tyrn and Mira, so get off them before I hit you with my trusty mallet. :D**

* * *

A week. It had only been a week since the end of the Siege of the North. A week since Tyrn and Mira were finally reunited, and soon after they were separated once again when Mira became the new Moon Spirit, taking Yue's place.

Due to the fact that the majority of the city had been smashed and melted from the Fire Navy raid, the Gaang decided to stay for a couple of days to help rebuild the Northern Water Tribe. Alongside the citizens and waterbenders, Aang and Katara got to work by waterbending the snow, Tyrn working alongside them to help carve out the doors and windows for people to use.

Sokka helped during the reconstruction of the walls at the outskirts of the city, but Tyrn could've sworn she saw a swish of white hair and a "man ponytail" vanish around the corner at night, no doubt being Yue and Sokka going out for a midnight stroll. Aang also seemed to be perkier around Katara as they worked, Tyrn just shaking her head as she turned away from the two.

This didn't help the fact that Tyrn was sitting on the windowsill every night, fingering the necklace in one hand as she stared up at the moon, deep in thought. She hadn't been the same ever since the day after Mira went, silently going about her business and seemed troubled when the group turned in at night, only nodding a good night to the others. The rest of the Gaang grew concerned when Aang told them he sometimes heard Tyrn walk outside of the room they all slept in, tears sometimes visible on her cheeks when the young avatar barely opened his eyes.

"We need to do something about Tyrn." Katara stated worriedly as the group met in the main room, Tyrn outside putting Appa in for the night. "This is so unlike her to be all moody, she's usually a ball of energy."

Aang nodded in agreement. "It's not fair to see her so sad about Mira…" he said, "I mean, she didn't just become the Moon Spirit, she basically died. I haven't seen her this sad since that night on the cliff after the storm." Aang clapped a hand over his mouth when he realized what he had said.

"You followed us?" Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Tyrn seemed really upset!" the young airbender retorted, rubbing the back on his head in guilt. "You can't be the only one worried about her."

"Look," Sokka butt in between the two. "Does anyone have ANY ideas on how to cheer her up?"

The three were silent as they pondered, the moonlight shining through the open windowsill. Aang sighed as he glanced around the room, his eyes landing on Sokka's bag.

"Um, Sokka?" The warrior looked over at Aang, who was looking at something in Sokka's bag. "Why do you have Tyrn's iPod?"

Sokka shrugged. "Oh, well after she said it broke I asked if I could look at it. When we were at the Northern Air Temple the Mechanist actually helped me fix it, and gave me something to help "re-charge it" as Tyrn put it." He took the iPod from Aang's hands. "I forgot about it until just now, actually. I was going to give it to Tyrn for her birthday."

Katara and Aang whipped their heads to stare incredulously at Sokka. "Wait, her BIRTHDAY is coming up?" Aang exclaimed.

"Uh, yeah. She mentioned it a while back, and it's tomorrow. Why?" Sokka asked, clueless.

Aang hopped up so excitedly you could almost see the light bulb flash above his head. "This is exactly what Tyrn needs! Let's throw her a super fantastic birthday party! We can celebrate her birthday and cheer her up at the same time!"

Katara just shook her head at her brother. "And WHY didn't you mention her birthday before?" she inquired exasperatedly. "We have to plan this all tonight and tomorrow."

"Well, we were all busy and stuff from being in the Northern Water Tribe, it slipped my mind!" Sokka defended himself, fearing Katara's wrath.

"And you're playing tonsil hockey with Yue." Katara muttered smugly.

Sokka's face turned scarlet red. "We are so not! Look, if it makes up for anything, I'll set up the party with Yue." He turned to Aang. "You can start by inviting some close friends from the city, anyone you can think of who would like to come."

Aang did a mock salute. "Sir yes sir!"

Sokka rolled his eyes in amusement as he watched Aang run out of the room to get started, and then turned to his sister. "Do you think you can keep Tyrn occupied tomorrow while Yue and I set up?"

"Sure! I've been dying to go shopping since we got here, I'll take Tyrn along with me." Katara said happily.

"Just don't spend too much, okay? We all know what happens when two girls go shopping for a day." Sokka stated sarcastically.

Katara smirked at her brother. "You're the one to talk; I saw you eyeing that purse yesterday." Sokka looked slightly embarrassed when he realized he had been caught.

"It's not a purse, it's a satchel." Both the brother and sister jumped when they heard Tyrn's voice carry out from the doorway. She was leaning against the frame looking slightly amused at the knowledge of Sokka's "satchel" obsession. "Indiana Jones has one." _I've been waiting to use that line. _She smiled to herself, ignoring their puzzled looks.

Sokka suddenly looked nervous. "O-oh! Hey Tyrn! How long have you been there?"

Tyrn shrugged. "Long enough to know that you have a weird fetish with bags and that Katara and I are going shopping tomorrow." Sokka looked relieved as Tyrn addressed Katara. "What time should we go?"

"Probably just after breakfast, we have a lot of ground to cover." Katara replied. "Um…are you alright, Tyrn?" Katara asked hesitantly.

Tyrn brushed off her concern. "Yeah, I'm fine." she tried to assure her. "Where's the bathroom, by the way?" she asked.

Katara pointed out the door to the right. "Down the hall, first right."

The airbender nodded. "Thanks, I'll see you in a few." Tyrn waved slightly as she walked out of the room.

Sokka furrowed his eyebrows as Tyrn walked out of sight. "If this party doesn't work, I don't know what will." he stated as he and Katara got up to go and find Yue.

As Tyrn walked down the hallway she couldn't help but frown at Katara's inquiry. Sure, her best friend and last living connection she had to her old world had gone up and transformed into the Moon Spirit, but she didn't really feel like sharing her feelings to Aang, Sokka or Katara. Tyrn was used to dealing with this stuff with Mira in the first place, and now that she was gone Tyrn had tried to bottle up her sadness and ride it out.

A quiet shuffling tugged Tyrn out of her reverie. Glancing to her left, she saw that Aang was sitting at a table in the small library of the palace, a couple of small papers scattered across the surface. She walked in and stopped in front of Aang's bowed head. "Hey."

Aang jumped a little. Seeing that it was Tyrn, he quickly airbended all the papers into a small stack and quickly hid them behind his back. "Oh, hi Tyrn!" he said brightly.

Tyrn raised an eyebrow. "What'cha got behind your back?"

"Oh, um…" Aang searched for a good cover up, "just…poems?" he half stated, half asked.

"Oh, for your love operation?" Tyrn inquired, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly. "Don't worry, I won't peek."

Aang inwardly sighed in relief as he stuffed the invitations in his pocket. "It's that bad, huh?" he frowned a little. "I just can't think of a good way to ask Katara out." Even though this was supposed to be a cover up for the party, Aang was telling the truth.

Grabbing a chair, Tyrn sat down. "Don't you still have the panda lily?" she asked, remembering their flight at Aunt Wu's village.

Aang nodded. "I've been watering it everyday like you said. But…" he half shrugged. "…I think it needs a little bit more than shoving a flower in her face and asking her to be my girlfriend."

"True, true…" Tyrn agreed. "Well, writing her a poem is sweet, but it's been used too many times."

"Well, Sifu Tyrn, what should I do?" Aang grinned at Tyrn.

Tyrn thought long and hard. "I guess…since there are so many canals in the city, why don't you take her on a romantic boat ride?" Tyrn offered. "You guys get to talk; you can impress her with the sights and ask her to be your girlfriend."

"That's brilliant!" Aang proclaimed, jumping up to give Tyrn a quick hug. "No wonder you're helping me with this stuff, I'm a mess with romance."

Tyrn smiled and got up. "Not really, you're getting better at it. The necklace idea before was a good one, even though Katara gave it to me after she got hers back." She subconsciously reached up and touched the flower.

Aang looked at Tyrn's neck curiously. "You still have it?"

Tyrn prayed that the heat she felt on her neck and ears didn't show. "Well, yeah. Like Sokka said, you could go into the jewelry making business if the Avatar thing doesn't work out." she winked.

Aang laughed. "You must be kidding if you think I want to sit in a stuffy shop and make pretty necklaces when I can be flying around on Appa and swimming with Elephant Koi."

"And look how THAT turned out." Tyrn reminded him. "Okay, so while Katara and I go shopping tomorrow you can set up for your little date; I'll lead her to the little port where you'll be waiting with the boat." Tyrn explained to him.

"Great!" Aang smiled nervously. "I just hope I don't screw it up."

Tyrn playfully hit his shoulder. "You better not, or you owe me five silvers!" she joked, turning to leave. "I got to go, I'll see you later."

Aang waved after her. "Good night, Tyrn!" As he turned his back away from Tyrn, he didn't see the small frown that Tyrn had on her face as she left the room.

* * *

The next morning, Tyrn and Katara got up bright and early (too early in Tyrn's opinion) to go shopping. Tyrn slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she shivered in the cold air.

"Happy Birthday, I guess." she said dully. Shoving on her boots, Tyrn stood up and stretched as she walked out the door, meeting up with Katara as the waterbender was feeding Appa.

"Hi Tyrn!" Katara smiled at the tired airbender as she finished placing the hay in front of Appa. "You ready to go?"

Tyrn yawned. "As I'll ever be while I'm half awake like a zombie." she stated, looking slightly ruffled. "Why do we have to go out so early?"

"Oh! Um, like I said, we have a lot of ground to cover, so let's go!" Katara said brightly as she grabbed Tyrn's wrist and started marching.

"Okay, geez! You don't have to pull…" Tyrn complained as the two set off; barely out of sight as Sokka and Yue hurried out of the corner they had been hiding behind, running into the house with what seemed to be decorations.

The pair of benders quickly merged into the crowd of citizens in the marketplace, waving at some of the people who smiled at them.

Tyrn gazed in wonder as she took in the many shops. "It's like a Mall of America!"

Katara smiled. "We're in the clothing section of the marketplace right now." she gestured around her. "Why don't we look around here for a bit?"

Tyrn looked confused. "Why? I don't need a dress, and skirts should be burned in my option." She stated, ignoring the strange looks some girls sent her when they heard.

"Well…" Katara decided to fess up a little. "Sokka mentioned it was your birthday today, and I thought maybe I could get you a little something while we were out."

Tyrn was silent for a moment. "So, the whole reason you wanted to go shopping today was to get me something for my birthday?" She raised an eyebrow.

Katara nodded. "Look Tyrn. I know you're still upset about Mira and all, but it's your birthday! How about we just have a fun time today and I get you a little something as a birthday present, alright?" she pleaded. "You shouldn't be sad, it's not fun seeing you like this."

She let out a little yelp in surprise as Tyrn hugged her. "I'm sorry I'm being such a jerk." Tyrn apologized as she leaned back. "You're right; I shouldn't be moping on a day like today. Let's go have a good time."

Katara patted her shoulder. "It's alright, I completely understand. Come on, this shop looks good!" The two girls grinned at each other as they hurried into the store.

The majority of the day was spent looking at clothes, Katara trying on different outfits as Tyrn critiqued them.

"Too plain, too flashy, too long, too short, too BLUE!" Tyrn exclaimed, slapping her forehead as Katara returned into the dressing room. "Sure it's the Northern Water Tribe, but can't they dye their clothes another color?"

"Well, other colors sort of belong to the other nations." Katara shrugged, handing back the dresses to the sales clerk.

Tyrn grinned a little. "Sure, if I want to play dress up, I need to be careful not to dress up as an evil human flamethrower." She stood up and looked around the dress shop once more. "I don't think there's anymore that look interesting in this shop. Let's move on." The two waved goodbye to the owner as they walked out.

The hustle and bustle of the market swarmed around them as Katara and Tyrn worked their way forward. As they passed by a curio shop, Tyrn saw a flash of orange in the alleyway next to it.

Katara looked back at Tyrn, who had stopped. "Tyrn? You found something?"

"Uh, yeah!" Tyrn nodded. "This place looks interesting. Come on!" The two walked into the quaint store. While Katara was fascinated by the different necklaces on display, Tyrn quickly dove out of the shop and into the alleyway.

Tyrn raised an eyebrow at Aang, who was hiding behind a barrel. "Why are you stalking us?"

"I'm not stalking you!" Aang assured her, standing up. "And frankly I'm not that interested in watching you guys shop. I'm just wondering when you two will be back."

"I don't know, we're going to go and check out one more shop down the street. You got the boat yet?" Tyrn asked.

Aang nodded. "Yeah, it's all set up and ready. Why don't you come and find me when you get back? I'll be down at the fisherman's port."

"Now THAT is a good plan." Tyrn waved as she quickly sprinted out of the alleyway and back into the shop.

Katara looked up from the blue necklace she was holding. "Hey Tyrn, I bet this would look great on you!" she thought out loud at she held it up to Tyrn's neck.

Tyrn shook her head. "No thanks, I already have one." She gestured to the woven flower necklace Katara had given her before.

"You're right," Katara agreed as she put the other one down. "That one looks nice on you anyways." she stated.

Tyrn smiled along with Katara as they made to go. Her eyes widened, however, when her pant leg snagged on something. Bending down, she reached behind an antique stool and touched an eerily familiar surface: steel strings. Tyrn quickly undid the snag and stood up, peering over the stool to find a white guitar.

"Awesome!" Tyrn exclaimed as she picked it up. "Glad to know there's actual proof that there's a guitar around here." she muttered under her break.

Katara stared at Tyrn. "Well? Play it!" she encouraged Tyrn.

Tyrn hesitated, and moved the guitar to fit snuggly under her arm. She quickly leaned over to grab a pick from her brown sack and gripped it in her fingers. The feeling of nostalgia washed over her as Tyrn started to play, the familiar rhythm pulsing as she strummed.

The last chord hung in the air as Katara and the old owner of the store started to clap. Tyrn blushed in embarrassment. "Thanks. It felt good to do that again in so long." She turned to the owner. "How much?"

"Well, it's a beautiful and priceless guitar, an antique no less, but how about the price of…" he whispered the price in Tyrn's ear.

Tyrn's face faltered a little as she handed the guitar back to the man. "Sorry, but I don't have enough money to buy it." she said.

Katara placed a hand on Tyrn's shoulder. "I could help you pay for it if you want." she offered.

"Thanks, but I think this one is a little too flashy in my opinion." Tyrn responded. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure I can find another guitar that isn't more expensive than gold underpants. Come on; let's go to that shop you were telling me about."

The two headed out of the shop, not paying attention to the pair of gray eyes that watched them leave from the alleyway.

* * *

"Thank goodness we're done." Tyrn sighed as she placed her bundle down and rubbed her aching feet. "I don't know if I could walk another step."

Katara sat down and waterbended some cold water around her feet. "Ah, that's the spot." She looked at Tyrn. "Of course, you could've just used an air scooter once you got tired." she reminded her with a grin.

"Which reminds me…" Tyrn got up, wincing a little on her feet. "I need to…uh…check up on Appa. Be right back!" She conjured an air scooter and zoomed out the door, leaving a confused Katara in her wake.

Speeding down the path, Tyrn made her way past the builds whirling past her as she headed down to the dock. She spotted the blue tattoo on Aang's head as Tyrn slowed down, leaping from her air scooter and walking over to him.

Aang's face lit up when he turned and saw Tyrn. "Hey, you made it!"

Tyrn nodded, and then turned up the corner of her mouth. "Nice getup."

"Is it that bad? I got it from the market, 'cause I thought I had to be a little bit more dressy, since it's a date, you know?" Aang face palmed himself when he was finished rambling. Tyrn looked over the light blue shirt and grey pants Aang was sporting, along with a dark blue tie.

Tyrn just shook her head as she held in her giggles, stepping forward to adjust the crooked tie. "You look great. It's just that you did it wrong." She said as she fixed the knot. "There we go. Is this the boat?" She gestured to the small raft next to them, the swirling white décor against the blue paint. Tyrn noticed the panda lily in a small pot, stowed safely under the seat.

"Yup! I'm gonna take her down the canals near the outside of the city." Aang explained. "So that there won't be so much staring about the Avatar on a date." He grimaced at the thought.

"The life of a celebrity, I got ya." Tyrn said sympathetically. "Well, I'll go and get Katara ready, and I'll send her your way in about half an hour." She smiled at him. "Good luck!"

Aang smiled back. "Thanks Tyrn. You really are my best friend." He admitted. "No one would go through this much trouble to help me get together with Katara."

Tyrn's smile faded a little. "Well, you're my best friend besides Mira. And I don't want you to fall into the river by accident or anything on your first date." Tyrn snickered at the thought.

"Haha." Aang rolled his eyes. "That's not helping!" He waved goodbye as Tyrn made her way back to the hut where Katara was waiting for her.

As Tyrn walked up the road she couldn't help but feel the saddening pit in her chest. _This is it. Starting tonight, Aang will be officially off the market and away from my obsessive crushing. _She rubbed her forehead in frustration. "What am I saying? After all of these weeks I should be over him!" Tyrn reprimanded herself.

Tyrn reached the frosty front door of the hut. "I guess after seeing him together with Katara, it will finally go away." she concluded as she entered.

Katara looked up from her waterbending scroll as she saw Tyrn come back. "Hey, how was Appa?"

"He was fine; I gave him some more water." Tyrn lied, walking over to her. "Alright, get up."

Katara looked confused. "Why?" she asked, standing up.

"You have a date tonight." Tyrn said, steering her to the vanity in the bedroom. "Aang's sent me to get you ready and send you to the docks to meet him."

Katara gasped. "Aang and I are going on a date?" she stared at Tyrn.

"Told you he liked you." Tyrn smiled a little at her. "Now come on, get your dress we bought today and change, I'll get the makeup ready."

When the two re-emerged half an hour later, Katara was wearing a light blue-green dress with flowing sleeves, with a turquoise belt around her middle. Her hair was down and her hair loopies were still in place.

She turned to hug Tyrn. "You did a great job!" she gushed. "I look amazing!"

Tyrn smiled as she stepped back to check it over. "Not a bad job if I do say so myself." she admitted. "Now get going!"

Katara and Tyrn walked out the door, the waterbender turning to Tyrn before she left. "Wish me luck!" she said nervously.

"If it's any assurance, Aang's just as nervous as you are, so just have fun." Tyrn said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Katara nodded, and waved goodbye as she walked towards the docks. Tyrn sighed as she watched Katara go out of sight, and then walked back inside.

* * *

"Wow, this has been just amazing!" Katara beamed at Aang as the boat pulled gently to a stop in the canal.

After the two greeted each other at the dock, they had set out on the canals, Aang gently waterbending the raft along as the two talked. The pair had just finished off the picnic Aang had prepared, and as Katara got out of the raft, Aang reached under the seat and plucked the panda lily from its pot.

_Come on, Aang. You can do this. _He told himself as he got out of the boat. "Um, Katara?" Aang gulped nervously as she turned to look at him. "This is for you." He revealed the panda lily from behind his back.

"Ohmygosh, it's beautiful, Aang!" Katara took the lily and placed it in her hair. "Was this from the volcano at Aunt Wu's?" she asked curiously.

Aang nodded. "Hey, Katara, there's something I'm been meaning to ask you…" Both of them blushed when he said this. "I tried to tell you before at Aunt Wu's, but…I really like you. A lot." Aang's chest felt like it was about to burst. "Ever since we've met, I've always admired you, I mean…you're such a great waterbender, and you're really pretty, and…"

Katara blushed even further. "Aang…I like you too. A lot." she gently smiled.

"Really?" Aang asked excitedly. He beamed when Katara nodded. "Well…I might as well ask this." He took Katara's hand. "Katara…will you mar-I mean, be my girlfriend?" Aang mentally face palmed himself at the slip up. _Smooth, Aang, smooth. _He could almost hear Tyrn saying to him.

Apparently Katara didn't hear the stumble. "Oh Aang, of course I will!" She threw her arms around him in joy.

Aang breathed a sigh of relief as he hugged her back. "Thank the Spirits; I thought you were going to reject me or something."

"Now why would I do that?" Katara pulled back a little to face him, her arms around his neck. "I've been kind of waiting for you to ask me out, anyways." She blushed when she stated this.

Aang grinned at her. "Then next time I better not keep you waiting."

"You're too sweet." Katara stated, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Aang blushed madly when she pulled away. "As much as I would hate to cut this short, we better get back so we can prepare for Tyrn's party."

"Oh yeah," Aang said. "This is going to be so freaking awesome!" he yelled as he quickly hopped up and got on an air sphere. "Race ya!"

"You're on!" Katara giggled, and the newly formed couple raced back as the moon rose higher in the starry sky.

* * *

"Tell me again why I'm getting into a dress and putting on the heels of death?" Tyrn asked as she fiddled with the ridiculously high heels she was wearing (which wasn't long, considering anything above an inch was "ridiculously high" in Tyrn's opinion).

Yue smiled as she brushed back Tyrn's thick black hair. "I told you, Katara and I are taking you out for a fun night for your birthday, and what better way than to dress up in our finest?" She twisted the main locks of Tyrn's hair upward. "Now if only I can get your hair to stay put nicely…"

Tyrn rolled her eyes. "You tried to get me into five pounds of makeup and failed, and no offense, but I can't exactly control what my hair does. Why do you think I put it up in a ponytail?"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Yue said triumphantly, stepping back to look. "Go ahead, check it out."

Tyrn peered at the twisty bun that her hair had now been placed in. Her bangs were still framing her face, which made the effect look brilliant. "Yue, you're a master at hair!" Tyrn said in amazement. "I can't even do that!"

Yue touched her hair loops at the back of her white head. "What can I say? You know, I can teach you how to do it if you like!" Yue looked hopefully at Tyrn. "You look beautiful with this hairstyle."

"Not sure about the beautiful comment, but sure, you can teach me!" Tyrn said, standing up. "I just hope it can be something that I can wear without putting on an outift that looks like I stole it from a princesses' closet." The dress that Tyrn was now wearing stopped at her shins, and a dark blue dye started to recede to a stunning white from the bottom to the top of her dress, creating a dazzling fading effect. The white fur-topped sleeves rested just below her shoulders, complete with two straps hooking around her neck.

"You look amazing!" Yue told her, sweeping off Tyrn's dress. "Now come on, let's hurry and meet up with Katara."

"Sure, one second." Tyrn turned to her bedside table and picked up the red necklace that rested on it. _I'm not so sure if I can wear this anymore once I see Katara and Aang, but tonight I'm wearing it for me. Not for my…__**crush **__for Aang. _Tyrn told herself sternly as she tied the flower necklace around her neck. "Okay, let's go."

Yue and Tyrn walked out to the hallway, the moonlight flashing onto their skin as they passed by the beams of light. The two had just crossway at the end of the hallway when Yue suddenly stopped.

"Before we go on, I have to do something. Forgive me!" Tyrn's sight suddenly vanished as Yue whipped out a blindfold from her pocket, securing it around Tyrn's startled eyes.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Tyrn asked after the short-lived shock died from her brain.

"It's a surprise." Yue said cryptically as she took Tyrn's arm and led her down the hallway. "What, did you think I was going to knock you out or something?"

"With my luck? Maybe." Yue just laughed at Tyrn's statement as the two crossed the courtyard.

Yue reached the low wooden door leading into the Spirit Oasis. "Okay, you can take off the blindfold now!"

Tyrn yanked the piece of cloth over her head ("Careful with the bun!" warned Yue.) and raised an eyebrow. "Why are we meeting Katara at the Spirit Oasis?"

"You'll see. Go on, open the door!" Yue urged her.

Tyrn turned and grabbed the handle of the low wooden door. She quickly pushed forward and jumped across the little threshold, and straightened up.

_What the hell?_

"SURPRISE!" Everyone screamed as Tyrn's face went from shock to amazement. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYRN!" The entire clearing of the Spirit Oasis was decorated in streamers and ribbon. Near the pool containing the two happy koi was a small wooden area, containing a table with gifts and food. And all around there were local teens Tyrn recognized from the city as some friends she had made.

Sokka, Katara and Aang were smiling happily as they cheered along with the rest of them, Sokka donning a simple dark blue tunic and white bow tie, and Katara and Aang still dressed up from their date. Tyrn quickly ran across the bridge, her face beaming as the kids around her laughed and wished her happy birthday as she passed.

She tackled the entire Gaang as she approached them. "You guys are freaking insane and I love you all to death!" she exclaimed. "You did all of this for me?"

"No, for the Fire Lord." Sokka said sarcastically. "Of course we did this all for you!"

Aang smiled at his best friend. "We knew your birthday was coming up and we wanted to throw this surprise birthday party for you."

"And we wanted to cheer you up since you were still down about Mira." Katara added, giving Tyrn a loving look. "You're our best friend, Tyrn."

Tyrn's eyes watered up, and she quickly pressed her sleeve into her eyes to not let them see. "Sokka, Katara, Aang…I love you guys."

"Aw, someone needs another group hug!" Sokka and Aang yelled as the three of them tackle-hugged Tyrn, the four of them laughing as they fell to the ground.

For the next few hours, Tyrn had gone from being rescued from the best friends dog pile to mingling with every guest, to eating the most delicious Northern Water Tribe food ever (she skipped the sea prunes). It was now time for the gift-giving time, and Tyrn had just opened a couple of presents that some guests had given her.

"It's so adorable, I love it!" Tyrn smiled at a little girl that she had met in the market. "Thank you so much!" The little girl giggled and quickly hugged Tyrn's legs before scampering off to find her mom.

Tyrn set aside the little trinket that the girl had given her and stretched. "Wow, that was an intense gift session!" She stood up and smiled at everyone. "Thank you so much for everything, you guys! I'm so thankful that I have the best friends one could ever ask for! Once again, thank you all for coming, and good night!" The small guest crowd cheered and clapped as Tyrn moved to step off the wooden platform with the gifts. Before long, the guests had disappeared for the night, leaving just the small group of five.

"Wait! You forgot about us!" Tyrn turned to see Sokka, Yue and Aang hiding something behind their backs.

"Aw, you guys!" Tyrn grinned at them. "You didn't need to get anything for me, you got me this amazing party!"

"Come on…" Aang smirked at her. "You know you wanna see what we got for you!"

Tyrn tapped her chin in pretend thought. "True, true…okay, you got me! Now gimme!" she said, hopping up and down excitedly.

Sokka and Yue laughed as they stepped up to Tyrn, who had sat down on the edge of the stage. "You know how your iPod died a few weeks ago?" Sokka asked her.

"Oh yeah! I gave it to you after it died." Tyrn nodded.

"Well…" Sokka proudly presented her iPod from behind his back. "I fixed it!"

Tyrn gasped as she took her iPod and pressed the button. She squealed when the welcome screen flashed before her excited face. "I can't believe it!" She leaned over and gave Sokka a big hug. "How did you do it?"

"When we were at the Northern Air Temple. See, the Mechanist and I tinkered with it and managed to open the back and fool around. Eventually we reset it and it was on again." Sokka explained.

"And that leads to my present." Yue spoke up, stepping forward. "See, Sokka made some sort of charger for you to use, and I made a handy bag for you to put your iPod and charger in. Look!" Yue handed Tyrn a black and white cloth bag, decorated with sparkling fringe. Tyrn took out a small pump and headphone jack crossbreed from inside.

"You can pump the charger section with airbending." Sokka told her. "Just put the end part into the iPod and it will last a very long time!"

Tyrn hugged her newly revived iPod and new charger set. "Thank you so much, Sokka and Yue!" she quickly turned to put the new gifts on the table before giving Yue a hug as well.

Yue and Sokka grinned as they stepped aside to reveal Aang, who was hiding a large bulky object behind his back. "What'cha got there, Aang?" Tyrn asked curiously, anticipation in her eyes.

"Well, you might want to see it before I explain, so…" Aang brought the object around from behind his back and whipped off the cloth concealing it. "Ta-da! Happy Birthday, Tyrn!"

Tyrn almost feel like rubbing her eyes. In Aang's hands was a small, light brown guitar, its glossy finish shining when it caught the light. The top was the traditional Water Tribe symbol, and the maple neck made Tyrn almost cry as she leapt off the stage. The pick guard was swirling with bird carvings and green leaves.

"Ohmygosh, Aang…" Tyrn whispered as Sokka, Yue and Katara gawked at her present. "Where did you get this?"

Aang handed her the guitar. "When we met at the market, I saw you playing the guitar in that curio shop." Aang said sheepishly. "And after you guys left I found this one in an old shop. I knew you wanted one, so I bought it!"

"Aang, this must've cost you a fortune!" Tyrn said, running her fingers over the steel strings.

Aang shrugged. "It was worth it." He jokingly held out his arms. "A simple hug would be nice."

Tyrn smiled as she gently placed the guitar on the stage, where Katara, Sokka and Yue went to look at it, and quickly gave Aang a huge hug. "Thank you, Aang. This means so much." she whispered in his ear.

"Anything for you." Aang embraced her back. Tyrn quickly prayed that he didn't feel the heat rising in her neck and face.

"Looks like you asked Katara out, huh?" Tyrn said as she looked at him.

Aang nodded. "It was so nerve-wracking! I almost asked her to marry me for crying out loud!" Aang looked a little embarrassed. "But I just can't believe she's my girlfriend now." Aang said, looking over to said girlfriend.

"Smooth, Aang. Wait for that question later!" she joked, and Aang nodded happily as he went over and gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, much to Sokka's disgust.

_I just hope my brain and heart register that you're gone, Aang. _Tyrn thought a little sadly to herself, and quickly fixed her face to a light grin.

"Hey, Tyrn? Why don't you blow out the candles on your cake?" Katara grinned as she gestured to the amazing cake that was now being lit by Yue.

"Cake! Now this is a birthday party!" Tyrn beamed. Aang just smiled in amusement as he led Tyrn over to the others.

"_Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Tyrn, happy birthday to you!" _Everyone sang as Tyrn thought long and hard about her wish. _I have everything I ever needed, and I don't want to wish for something I want. _She glanced at Katara and Aang, who had their arms around each other's waist. _How about this…_

The group cheered as Tyrn blew the candles out, the smoke wisps flowing away from the table and over the pond. The trails of grey smoke started to circle the pond, grabbing the attention of Tyrn and her friends. "What's going on?" Tyrn asked.

The clearing seemed to disappear as a bright light burst from the center of the pond, making everyone shield their eyes and cry out. As Tyrn peered through her fingers, she thought she saw a figure in the middle of the pond, directly over the two unharmed koi.

The figure slowly floated over to the edge of the grass, and its feet gently graced the top of the green floor as the bright light died down. Everyone removed their hands from their eyes and gasped, for standing in front of them was something they knew very well.

"So where's that mallet you were talking about, Tyrn?" Mira grinned at her best friend.

Tyrn let out a yell as she went and tackle-hugged her best friend/moon spirit, almost sending them into the pond. Everyone started talking at once as Mira laughed and greeted all of them.

"What, how, when…what the heck are you doing here?" Tyrn gasped as she pulled back to look at her best friend properly.

"It's your birthday." Mira stated simply. "Why not come down and celebrate?"

Yue looked extremely confused. "But aren't you the Moon Spirit? Why isn't the moon out or something?" The moon continued to shine over them, the light catching at Mira's silvery white dress.

"The other spirits heard your wish, Tyrn." Mira told her. "And they granted it."

Katara, Aang, Sokka and Yue stared at Tyrn, whose eyes had gone wide. "What was your wish, Tyrn?" Aang asked.

"It was…that I could see Mira again." Tyrn mumbled.

"And now you can." Mira grinned. "I can now come down and visit you guys whenever the moon is out. I separate my soul to leave some of it up in the Spirit World, so that there's still a moon. But if the moon is full, like tonight, I can come down in a full body and everything. It's just when the moon is half or new that I come down as a spirit, unable to touch things but still able to talk."

Tyrn looked amazed. "That's incredible! So now you can come and see us while we're traveling!"

Mira nodded, and grinned at Tyrn. "That's a mighty nice guitar you got there. You feel like playing for us?"

The whole group agreed with Mira and pushed Tyrn over to the stage. "Really? You want to hear me play?" Tyrn asked, grabbing the guitar and pulling the new strap over her head.

"Why not?" Mira asked, jumping up on stage with her. "In fact…" The whole group's eyes bugged out when Mira held out her hand, sparkles of light starting to appear as they collected and transformed. Mira soon had a simple tambourine in her hand. "I'll sing with ya."

Sokka and Yue looked surprised. "Tyrn, you sing?"

Tyrn blushed modestly as Katara and Aang nodded. "Yup, I heard her, and she's really good." Aang piped up.

Tyrn scratched her head. "Well, if you want me to, I'll give it a shot. Hey Sokka, hand me my iPod." She took the iPod from Sokka's outstretched hand and leaned over to Mira, poring over the list.

"No, not that one…ha-ha, I can't believe you still have that song…YES, that one!" The group heard Mira shout as Tyrn selected the song. Setting the iPod on a nearby crate, Tyrn pressed play as got into position. "This song is called Lovebug. Hope you like it!" she announced.

Tyrn started to pick the notes as the song began. "I'll sing main, you sing backup, okay?" Mira nodded as Tyrn began to sing. (Italics is Tyrn, Bold is Mira, and both is both of them.)

_Called you for the first time yesterday,_

_Finally found a missing part of me._

_Felt so close but you were far away,_

_Left me without anything to say._

Mira smiled as she started to shake her tambourine, starting her part.

**Now I'm speechless, over the edge, I'm just breathless,**

**I never thought that I'd catch this,**

_**Lovebug again.**_

**Hopeless, head over heels in the moment,**

**I never thought that I'd get hit by this**

_**Lovebug again.**_

Tyrn and Mira started to smile at each other as the group started dancing in a sort of slow waltz. Aang was blushing as he tried not to step on Katara's feet, and Sokka was contently holding Yue close to him as Tyrn began the next verse.

_I can't get your smile out of my mind (_**Can't get you outta my mind**)

_I think about your eyes all the time_

_Beautiful but you don't even try _**(Don't even, don't even try)**

_Modesty is just so hard __**to find**_

_**Now I'm speechless, over the edge I'm just breathless,**_

_**I never thought that I'd catch this**_

_**Lovebug again.**_

_**Hopeless, head over heels in the moment,**_

_**I ever thought that I'd get hit by this **_

_**Lovebug again.**_

Tyrn and Mira started to grinned wildly as the part slowed down a bit, in preparation of what was to come.

_**Kiss her for the first time yesterday**_

_**Everything I wished that it would…be**_

_**Suddenly I forgot how to speak**_

_**Hopeless, breathless baby can't you see?**_

Tyrn walked over to Mira with a large grin. "Wait for it…" she laughed, and the heavy electric guitar part started to play.

The two couples were shocked at the loud electric guitar solo rang out through the air. Mira and Tyrn started laughing at their faces while they rocked out to the song. "Come on, silly people! Go crazy!" Tyrn yelled over the solo, Mira banging her head to the ringing notes.

Aang quickly recovered and grinned at Katara. "Hey this sounds pretty cool, actually. In fact…" Aang started a fast paced dance with his girlfriend, swirling around Sokka and Yue. Katara started to laugh as Aang pulled her into a twirl.

"Hey, no fair, air head!" Sokka shouted. "I'm no airbender!"

"Oh Sokka, just let loose!" Yue smiled at him, and started to pick up the pace as the song went back into the chorus.

_**Now I'm speechless, over the edge I'm just breathless,**_

_**I never thought that I'd catch this**_

_**Lovebug again!**_

Tyrn and Mira leaned on each others backs, Tyrn playing as loud as she could, Mira laughing and shaking her tambourine.

_**Now I'm hopeless, head over heels in the moment,**_

_**I never thought that I'd get hit, by this **_

_**Lovebug again!**_

Tyrn quickly played along with the last bit of the solo, smiling at her friends rocking out to the song. As Aang led Katara into a dip, and Sokka and Yue doing the last of their dance, Tyrn quickly thanked her lucky stars that she was here with them, Mira once again by her side.

_**Ooooh, Lovebug again…**_

The song led to an end as the two couples stopped and clapped for their friends, who were breathing heavily as they bowed. "Thank you! Thank you very much!" Tyrn and Mira shouted happily.

* * *

**Like I said, my story so the JB songs stay! :P I really hoped you guys liked this chapter, tell me what you think of it, okay?**

**I might be having a little bit of a break from this chapter (maybe 1 and 1/2 to 2 weeks hiatus) but as soon as I get back we'll be in the Avatar State episode, and officially starting Book 2!**

**Toph: YES! Finally, some Toph love in this story!**

***sigh* Toph, I'm questions how you're even reading this story since you're freaking BLIND. Now get back in the box!**

**Until then, Ciao!**


	17. Chapter 17

**...wow this is awkward...**

**When two weeks turns into two months...super sorry I've posted so late, I would totally give you guys some excuses but I feel lazy to come up with them. SO, with that being said, here's Chapter 17!**

**I do not own A:TLA, but I do own Mira and Tyrn so get your greedy hands off them. xD**

* * *

"So how long is it until we get to Omashu, Sokka?"

"I don't know Katara, we should be able to get there today after we stop to rest, and we've already been held up with General Fong and Tyrn's fever."

"Shhh, Sokka, you'll wake her up!"

"It's not like I can sleep with Sokka's complaining." Tyrn mumbled.

It was a little while after the group had last been in the Northern Water Tribe. After leaving the estranged general who had tried to force Aang into the Avatar State, the Gaang was now flying to Omashu, where Aang would start his Earthbending training with King Bumi. Or at least, that's what the rest of them think.

Tyrn let out a slight snuffle as she curled up in a corner of Appa's saddle. She was dealing with a recent fever as the group went from the frigid temperatures of the North, where she hadn't any heavier clothing while on the boat to General Fong's base. She sighed softly as she got comfortable. They were going to stop for a rest before heading on, and Tyrn knew that the Cave of Two Lovers was about to come up. She remembered the conversation she had with her best friend Mira the last time they stopped to camp.

_There was no moonlight to distinguish mountains from sky, only the small specks of stars that some spirit splatter-painted across the blackish blue sky. Tyrn yawned a little, shivering as the cold air breezed through her lungs. __**New moon, huh?**__ Tyrn thought as she airbended up to sit on a tree branch. "I wonder if Mira can come down tonight…" This was the first new moon that had shown since back in the Northern Water Tribe._

"_Princess of the Moon, at your service." Tyrn turned her head sharply to the left, where something seemed to be materializing next to her. In a matter of seconds, a white figure was floating in the air, the elegant dress and black hair of a girl. This was the form that her best friend, Mira, had taken whenever the moon was not visible. If the moon was full she would have no problem materializing a full, real body to come down in._

_Tyrn winced as her neck started to hurt. "Stop giving me whiplash, Mira." she murmured. "And be a little quieter, the others are asleep."_

"_I can't help it; it's not my fault that you jump at anything and I haven't been down here for a while." Mira said back, her eyes looking cheerfully at Tyrn as she floated over to "sit" on the branch._

_Tyrn cocked her head. "So this is what you look like when it's a new moon…" she said, waving her hand through Mira's forearm._

"_Yeah, it's kinda trippy." said Mira, staring at her arm. "This whole moon spirit thing is trippy…but I can't exactly disclose any information of what I do during hours." she joked._

_Tyrn pouted. "You mean to tell me you're in the Spiritual version of the FBI? Give me a break."_

_Mira laughed. "Sure am. What's got you up this late at night?"_

"_Just thinking. I couldn't sleep." The airbender pointed towards the mountains in the distance. "Do you remember what's in those mountains, Mira? From the show?"_

_Mira tilted her head. "Um…wasn't it the Cave of Two Lovers?" She looked at her best friend, who nodded. "What are you going to do?"_

_Tyrn shrugged. "I don't know." she said. " I would love to see Sokka try and 'seduce' the badgermoles." The two of them giggled quietly. "And it's about what will happen when we get to Omashu, and when we meet Toph later on…you know how it is…should I act like a psychic today or not?" she said sarcastically._

_Mira stared out over the treetops before answering. "Something else is bothering you, isn't it."_

"_No, I'm fine. Just the same old, same old." Tyrn denied._

"_You and I both know that 'I'm fine' is the biggest lie ever besides 'I agree to your terms and conditions'." Mira retorted. "It's about Aang and Katara isn't it?"_

_That was something the Gaang had to get used to: Aang and Katara's relationship. It almost seemed like nothing had happened during their stay at the North Pole; Aang and Tyrn still sparred regularly as Tyrn tried to gain her master's title, Katara cleaned Appa after a day's flight through bug-infested skies, and Sokka still had his own little breed of sarcasm and meat, or "Sokkasm" as Tyrn jokingly put it. But underneath the mundane routine they had settled into, a little grin or a small blush would emerge between Katara and Aang when they thought no one was looking. Tyrn had resolved to accept Aang and Katara's relationship, and was prepared to feel the hurt of her crush being in love with someone else. But the things she felt when she saw the two together were not what she expected. It was not just rejection; it had a little dusting of jealousy._

"_It's because you love him." Mira stated to Tyrn's surprise. "I know you, Tyrn. And don't give me that crap about you being too young or other stuff that I don't pay attention to."_

_Tyrn sighed. "I'm telling you, I'm __**not in love with him**__." She glanced up at the mountains, where the sky was starting to lighten. "It's almost sunrise." said Tyrn. She nodded at Mira before sliding down the trunk of the tree. "I'll see you later. Goodnight." she called up to her friend, who waved goodbye. _

_Mira stared after her, watching as her best friend whisper to herself. "Life sucks." she heard Tyrn state softly._

_As the Moon Spirit disappeared into the night, a loud sneeze made the entire group wake up in alarm as Tyrn ricocheted up into the air. _

"_Tyrn!"_

"Hey, Tyrn?"

A voice snapped Tyrn's eyes open. Realizing she had dozed off, she looked up at Katara's concerned face. "We've stopped by at the river for now. Are you feeling any better?"

Tyrn slowly sat up, noticing that she had been moved while she was asleep, and was now curled up on Appa's furry leg. "Yeah, much better." She looked around as she said this. "How did I end up here?"

Katara just laughed as Aang and Sokka looked over at them. "I asked Aang too, and don't worry, if he did anything he would get both you and his girlfriend's wrath." The two of the laughed at Aang's slightly confused face. "Do you want to go down and get something to eat?"

"Sure."

With Katara's help, Tyrn got up and slid down Appa's tail towards the food bag. Aang and Sokka looked up to find their sick friend back on her feet. "How's the fever, Tyrn?" asked Aang.

She waved at them half-heartedly. "Its fine." she stated, rummaging through the bag for the leftover seal-jerky.

"Are you going for my meat?" accused Sokka.

Tyrn looked up, a piece of jerky flopping from her mouth. "Maybeh." said her muffled voice. "Don't worry; I'm just having one piece." She walked over to sit against a tree while Appa shuffled into the water, his rumbling groan echoing across the clearing.

"So Aang, you ready to practice some waterbending?" Katara asked, having changed into her swimsuit.

Aang looked up from where he stood in the water. "Sure, what are we practicing on?"

"Just make sure you hurry it up, you guys." said Sokka. "We have a lot of ground to cover to get to Omashu today and we've only been here for so long so that Tyrn could rest."

"Glad to know my health is on the top of your priority list!" Tyrn called out, swallowing the jerky.

Katara turned to him with her hands on her hips. "Like you're actually ready to go right now, naked guy."

Sokka waved her off. "I could be ready in two minutes. Seriously, whenever." Tyrn grinned as he continued to relax.

As the two waterbenders got into their positions, Tyrn reached out and grabbed her bag, pulling out her sketchbook. She grinned as she started to draw the group in the pond, from Sokka's lazy lounging to the octopus form that Aang was perfecting. A couple of minutes passed, and as Tyrn finished outlining Momo's ears, a laugh could be heard from Sokka.

Tyrn turned away from her sketchbook to find Aang and Katara standing around awkwardly, blushes on their faces. Sighing, Tyrn looked at Sokka. "What's so funny?"

Sokka finished his laughing. "Just the looks on their faces…see, Katara had to correct Aang's form, so she—"

"Shut up, Sokka!" Katara scolded. Aang grew just had a funny grin on his face as the two siblings bickered. Tyrn just rolled her eyes in amusement as she snapped her sketchbook shut.

Suddenly, a faraway voice started to come up over the hill. The group looked quizzically at each other before they looked at Tyrn, whose content smile from before had blossomed into a full out giggling. She stood up as Chong and little band of hippies came into view. Tyrn said, "Ah…this is going to be fun." just as Sokka flipped over in the water.

Chong stopped his strumming to gaze at the Gaang. "Woah, river people!" he drawled.

It was a few minutes later as Tyrn, Katara and Aang chatted with the nomads. Aang looked up at Sokka as he approached. "Hey Sokka, you should hear some of the stories that Chong knows! These guys have been_ everywhere. _There's a giant waterfall that has a never-ending rainbow!"

"Well, not everywhere." Chong admitted. "But where we haven't been to, we've heard about through stories and songs."

Tyrn poked her head from behind Appa's tail. "You think you can teach me some songs to play?" she asked shyly, holding out her guitar.

Chong and Lily clapped at her, happy expressions on their faces. "Way to go, little music junkie! Come ova here, here's a good one that I got from our little adventure with a giant night crawler." Chong beckoned her.

"Sweeeet." Tyrn went over and sat down on the ground. As the young airbender fingered the instructions Chong gave her, Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Well, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara's busy, I guess it has to be me. We need to get to Omashu, and that means no night crawlers, no guitar playing and definitely NO RAINBOWS." he finished, with his arms crossed.

"Hey, I think I got it!" Tyrn exclaimed, rapidly doing the plucking as Chong accompanied her. Aang and Katara laughed at their friend as the hippies started clapping along, singing their part. Sokka just slapped his forehead as the song finished with smiles on everyone's face except for his.

Chong chuckled. "Well, well, little junkie, I must state that you have some serious skill!"

Katara smiled. "That's our Tyrn for ya." Tyrn beamed at the praise.

Chong tapped his chin. "You know, if you're headed to Omashu, there's a supposed hidden path that goes right to it…_right…through…the mountains._"

"Is this real, or a real legend?" Katara asked suspiciously.

Tyrn waggled her eyebrows. "It's a real legend." she and Chong said simultaneously.

Aang snickered as Chong clapped Tyrn on the back. "Great minds think alike, eh? Well then, play along with me here!"

Tyrn nodded enthusiastically as they started. She smirked when she saw Sokka's eyebrow twitch. She strummed as Chong started to belt out the rest of the lyrics, the others dancing on their feet. _These guys are __**so **__my people._

The elder hipped fell back onto Appa's leg with a smile as the others clapped. Sokka sighed as he walked over. "I think we'll be just fine. We've dealt with the Fire Nation before."

Aang patted Appa as he stood up. "Yeah. Appa hates being underground, we want to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable."

Tyrn looked uneasy. "I'm not so sure that about a couple dozen fireballs will clear my sinuses." she said. "We should go through the Cave of Two Lovers."

Katara nodded. "Well, if Tyrn's saying we should go, then we should go. Let's get going." Aang nodded along with her as they ran back to start packing Appa.

"As you wish, Madame Tyrn." Sokka said sarcastically.

* * *

"Hey-ey, we're here!"

The group stood there, staring at the gaping hole in the wall where the Cave of Two Lovers started. Above it stood a weathered sign that Tyrn couldn't make out from where she sat on top of Appa's saddle.

Sokka looked up at Tyrn with an exasperated look on his face. "And you didn't happen to mention that this so called tunnel is in fact a cursed LABYRINTH?"

Tyrn shrugged. "Slipped my mind."

"That's it!" Sokka declared, "There is no way we're going through some cursed cave!"

A sudden cry came from Moku. "Hey, someone's making a big bonfire!" He pointed at a tall stack of smoke in the distance.

The Gaang glared at the smoke. "That's no fire, Moku." Katara said grimly.

"It's the Fire Nation, they must've seen Appa before and caught up." said Sokka.

Aang turned to Chong. "So all you need to do is to trust in love to get through these caves?" he asked.

"That is correct, little master arrowhead." Chong confirmed.

Tyrn watched as Aang gazed at Katara, who didn't see his wide eyes. She rested her head on her hands. It was so odd to have a crush on someone that loved someone that you knew…check that, someone that's one of your closest friends. You feel happy for them, and yet sad for yourself. _That's selfish. _Tyrn thought disdainfully. _They're happy together, anyone could see that._

"Everybody into the hole!" Sokka shouted, gesturing everyone to go in.

"Down the rabbit hole into the world of Wonderland…" Tyrn muttered, snickering under her breath.

The group started to wander into the cave's entrance. They passed the few large statues that seemingly glared at them with their vicious eyes. Tyrn shivered a little as they continued on. "Creepy…" All of a sudden, a crumbling noise crashed down on their ears from behind them. Everyone turned in shock to find the rocks tumbling down around them, gradually filling the entrance.

"Come on, we need to go in deeper!" Katara yelled.

Everyone started running as the walls crashed down. Tyrn held on for dear life as Appa leaped forward, the saddle almost bouncing off. And then as the entrance finally closed up, she saw nothing but pitch black.

A moment later, Chong had lit up one of the torches the group had. "Everyone okay?"A murmur of assurance came from the shaken group. "That was some rumble-tumble cave in, huh?"

"Wait…" Aang's eyes widened. "What about…Tyrn!" He scrambled up Appa's saddle to find his friend. "Tyrn! Tyrn, are you okay?"

Katara and Sokka looked alarmed. "What? What happened?" the waterbender asked.

Aang turned to them. "She's unconscious!"

"WHAT?" Everyone yelled.

Katara and Sokka climbed up onto the saddle and gasped to find Tyrn face-down on the floor of the saddle, her head bleeding. Katara spied a stray rock in the saddle. "She must've been hit pretty hard by the falling rocks…"

"Oh no, it looks bad!" Sokka panicked.

Aang looked anxious. "She's going to be alright, though, right?"

"Come on, let's get her down first." Katara ordered. The nomads looked on in worry as they saw Aang airbend back down, carrying Tyrn. "Here Chong, come and bring the torch over here…" she said as she and her brother followed Aang. As Chong held the torch near her, Katara bended some water from her pouch and started to heal the wound. A few seconds passed before the wound sealed up, the blood washing away.

Aang and Sokka sighed in relief as Katara bended the water away. "You're the best, Katara." Aang said fervently.

Sokka rolled his eyes as his sister blushed. "We need someone to carry Tyrn while we continue on." He nodded at Moku, who gingerly picked up the unconscious airbender. "Since Tyrn's currently too out of it to tell us how to get out, we need to make a plan for ourselves." He looked up at Chong. "Chong, how long do those torches last?"

Chong looked at the flame. "Uh, about two hours I suppose."

"And we have five, so that makes…" Lily quickly lit up the other four torches. "Ten hours!"

Sokka ran over to stomp them out. "It doesn't work that way if they're all lit at the same time!" he yelled. "Look, I'll just make a map of where we've been and we'll solve it like a maze. Come on, we need to get going." He walked determinedly forward, the others following him.

It seemed like hours later when they stopped at yet another dead end, the tunnel blocked by rocks and boulders. Katara sighed. "Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us to."

"This doesn't make any sense; we already came through this way!" Sokka thought long and hard. "Unless..."

Chong watched Sokka pace around. "We don't need a map. All we need is the power of love, the little guy knows it." He gestured to Aang.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind having a map too." replied Aang.

Sokka stared at the map in his hands. "There's something strange going on here. And there's only one explanation." He turned to the others. "The tunnels are changing." The group looked astonished as a deep rumbling sound echoed across the cavernous ceilings.

"Oh no!" Chong held his head in his hands. "The tunnels, it must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't have come down here!"

"Yeah…if only we listened to you…" Sokka muttered.

Katara held up her hand. "Everyone be quiet! Listen!" The room seemed silent except for a faint crackling sound that started to grow. Momo leapt off Sokka's shoulder as a giant creature flew down from the darkness, screeching as it went.

Chong fell back on his seat. "It's a giant thing with teeth!"

Moku jumped back in alarm, jostling Tyrn in his arms. "No, it's a wolf bat!"

Sokka yelled as he waved his torch at the snarling wolf bat. The wolf bat deftly batted away the stray flame from the torch, the flame landing at Appa's feet. The giant bison groaned in pain as he started to run around blindly away from the fire, crashing into the walls. With the wolf bat gone, the new danger was Appa's trampling as he pummeled from the rocky wall to the giant pillar of rock. Aang's eyes widened in alarm as the ceiling started to crumble. He quickly ran over and sent a giant wind that blasted the group back. As he flew back, Moku accidently dropped Tyrn on the floor, the young airbender now in a more immediate peril as she lay there, not moving.

Katara screamed in alarm as she pointed at Tyrn. "Oh no, Tyrn! She's going to be crushed!"

No sooner did she say this did Aang swoop by her, sprinting as he picked up Tyrn and dived towards Katara, knocking all three of them away from the cave-in. They laid there for a few moments as the rocks finished crashing down, leaving them in a spooky silence.

Aang lifted his head to look at Katara. "Are you okay?"

Katara nodded. "I'm fine." She sat up, supporting Tyrn as she did. "And it looks like Tyrn and Appa are alright, too." she commented, looking over at Appa as he was prodding at the rocks.

Aang sighed in relief as he bent over and picked up the torch that had miraculously not gone out. "I'm just glad you guys are okay."

"…w-wha…"

The two of them gasped as Tyrn's brown eyes flickered open. "Tyrn!"

The girl blinked as her eyes focused. "…Katara? Aang?" She slowly sat up. "What happened?"

Katara held Tyrn up as she wobbled a little. "Take it easy. You got knocked out when the Fire Nation soldiers collapsed the entrance."

"Did I?" Tyrn looked at her. "Huh…apparently this cave doesn't like me very much." Her eyebrows went up as a sudden thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute, I remember something like me hitting the ground…and rocks falling?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah, Appa got scared and started bashing in the walls, with caused the entire place to collapse. Moku dropped you by accident so I ran in and got you and Katara out in time."

Tyrn turned and gaped at the giant pile of rock and earth behind her. "It looks so much smaller on TV…" she thought out loud. "But seriously," she stated, turning back to Aang, "thanks for saving me back there." she said sincerely.

Aang grinned. "Just another duty for the Avatar, no biggie." Tyrn just scoffed as she gave him a quick hug. Katara smiled at Aang, who looked over Tyrn's shoulder with a smile of his own.

The two of them helped Tyrn stand up. "I don't think we should risk Appa getting scared again with you on his back…can you walk?" Katara inquired. "That was a nasty hit to the head you got, you might pass out if you overexert yourself."

Tyrn stiffened a little as she felt her spine crack, and then relaxed. "I think so…if anything, I'll lean on Appa for support if I get dizzy." she assured their worried faces. "Really, if there's anything wrong I'll tell you right away, promise."

Aang looked down the dark tunnel. "Since you're awake now, do you have any idea on how to get us out of here?"

Tyrn thought carefully for a moment. "Well, I know what to do when we get to a certain point, so let's just continue walking until we get there."

With that, the group started to trek down the narrow tunnel. Tyrn patted Appa's furry head as they went. "You okay there, Appa?" He let out a low rumble in response, making her smile. "I'm glad. At least you didn't get burned by the fire." She looked up ahead at Aang and Katara, who were holding each other's hand as they talked. "Do you think they'll kiss when we get to that part?" she whispered to Appa in a tiny voice, glancing to make sure that the two ahead of them couldn't hear. Appa seemed to be listening to her as she continued. "I mean, it's a dark place in a cave that has the name 'The Cave of Two Lovers' and all that…you'd think they'd be doing something romantic…" She looked down at her feet. "I feel like such a third wheel…should I keep quiet and let them think of kissing or ruin it by mentioning the crystals?" Appa blinked at her as she gripped his fur lightly. _I shouldn't be so stupid about this…and then again, maybe I shouldn't think too much…_

Appa suddenly stopped behind the couple, and Tyrn looked up to find the door with the circular inscription on it. "Look, a way out!" Katara exclaimed.

Tyrn suddenly felt a little nauseous in her stomach, and she was sure that it wasn't from the concussion. As Aang and Katara went forward to try and push open the door, she walked to the side as Appa wandered forward, pawing the ground as he prepared to charge. "You guys might want to look out."

Aang and Katara looked over at her before noticing Appa, and quickly dove out of the way as the large bison rammed the door open, making it fall down and roll to the side. The three crawled over the threshold before casting the light over the cavernous room. The feeling in her stomach deepened a little as Tyrn got a good look at the room.

Katara gasped. "This isn't the exit…" she whispered.

"No…it's a tomb." Tyrn said somberly. They descended the steps down to the dusty platform, where two earthen coffins stood. "It's the two lovers from the legend. They were buried here."

She watched as Katara went over to the small pictures on the side of the platform. "These inscriptions must tell their story." she said. Aang and Katara bent over near the torchlight as Tyrn went over to guide Appa to where they were.

Tyrn smiled softly as Appa gave her an affectionate nudge. "I didn't forget about you and your fear of being underground. It's okay, just stick near us." she told him quietly as Katara read out the lines of the story of Omashu. "I'm not too crazy about hanging out in two dead people's tombs, anyways. It's just…strange, almost scary…I'm half expecting a spirit to come out and possess my body." Tyrn looked a quick look around the darkened tomb as Aang and Katara went over to the huge statue of the two kissing lovers. "And here we go." she said, airbending up onto Appa's saddle.

"Where are you going with this?" Aang asked curiously.

Tyrn patted Appa's head as she heard Katara's hesitant voice. "Well…what if we kissed?" She was sure that a brilliant blush was on Katara's face.

Aang sounded stunned. "Us? Kissing?"

"See, I knew it sounded like a crazy idea." Katara said uncomfortably.

"Well, not really…" Aang replied slowly. "I mean…we are dating right now, right? I mean…it's just…well, I'm sure that Tyrn wouldn't want to see us together like that, right Tyrn?" Katara seemed to remember that Tyrn was there as Aang looked at said airbender.

Tyrn shrugged. "I just laugh with Sokka because it's kind of funny, but if you two really want to do something like that then I'll turn momentarily deaf and blind to let you. It's your relationship after all."

Katara smiled gratefully at Tyrn. "Yeah, but… I don't think that's the solution to this though…I mean, how is kissing going to magically open up a way to get out of here?"

Aang nodded in agreement. "But, then again, I'd rather kiss you than die in here…"

Tyrn slapped her forehead as Aang started to stammer. "I-I mean, that's not what I mean!" he tried to clarify as Katara looked slightly pissed.

"God, I can't believe he pulled that…" Tyrn groaned softly.

Katara turned away as Aang attempted to talk to her. "What, I'm just saying that I'd rather kiss you than die, it's a compliment!" he pleaded with his hands clasped.

"Well, now I'm not so sure what I would want to do!" Katara huffed, shoving the torch into Aang's hands and stomping away.

Tyrn rolled her eyes as Aang slumped over. "What is wrong with me…" he muttered.

"Do you really want to kiss her?" Aang looked up in surprise as Tyrn looked back at him with the question in her eyes. "Well?"

Aang fiddled with the torch. "…It was going to be our first kiss...I did want to kiss her…that's why I said the thing about the dying part. But…it seemed a lot better in my head, and I was so nervous…"

"You idiot." Tyrn sighed. "This is why relationships are difficult and yet exciting at the same time. You just happened to say one of the most stupidest things to say in that moment. Katara's embarrassed to kiss you either because of how you'll react to it or because I'm here to witness it."

Aang looked over in the direction that Katara went. "I need to go talk to her."

Tyrn nodded encouragingly. "Looks like you're starting to get the hang of this relationship stuff."

"You know, you need to write a book about girls." Aang stated, smiling at her as the two of them and Appa went to catch up with Katara.

Whether it was half an hour or a few minutes, the torch had whittled down to the last of the string burning at the end. Tyrn laid back on Appa's saddle, passing off as feeling faint to avoid mentioning the crystals so that Aang could make up with Katara. However, the silence seemed to have enveloped their lungs until now, as she heard the two of them stop in front. The two seemed to have burned off the awkward tension between them like the torch.

"We're about to lose light any second now…" Aang murmured. "What will we do?"

Tyrn heard Katara respond to him. "What can we do?"

Half-closing her eyes, Tyrn stared up at the ceiling. _I guess this is it, huh…just a few more seconds until their first kiss…_ Her trail of thought disappeared as a new burning feeling settled in her stomach. She couldn't help it. As the light dimmed away, she raised her head a fraction of an inch to glimpse the heads of Katara and Aang coming together. And as their eyes closed and her eyes widened, a new fact seemed emerge with the thousands of thoughts running through her head as the darkness settled into the glowing crystals.

_Mira was right…maybe I am in love with him…_

* * *

As the sunlight hit their faces, the group could only smile at Appa's joyful expression as he flopped over on his back, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Tyrn walked over to pat Appa's stomach as he blinked at her. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Wait, what about Sokka and the others?" Aang asked suddenly.

Just then, two large explosions burst out from either side of the exit. Tyrn just shook her head as Sokka and the nomads came out on the backs of the giant badgermoles. "As if on cue."

Sokka grinned wildly as he slid down the badgermole's leg. "How did you guys get out?"

Aang walked up to him, a blush on his face. "Just like the legend said, we let love lead the way."

"Really? We let huge, ferocious beasts lead our way." Sokka turned and waved to the badgermoles as they disappeared back into the mountain, the holes closing up behind them.

Aang ran over to the nomads as Katara and Sokka hugged. "Why is your forehead all red?" Katara asked, stepping back to examine him.

Chong walked over to them. "Now, nobody be alarmed about what I have to tell you. I think that kid might be the Avatar!" he stated in amazement as he pointed at Aang.

Tyrn looked thoughtful as Sokka slapped his forehead for the umpteenth time. "On second thought, maybe these guys aren't exactly my crowd…"

The group waved as they watched the nomads go off, singing as they went. Sokka leaned over at Tyrn as they started walking up the hill. "Anything good happen in that cave with Katara and Aang?"

"Nope." Tyrn said weakly.

"Nothing? Really?" Sokka peered at Tyrn. "Are you okay? You seem sort of out of it."

"I just survived a concussion and from being trapped in a mountain today, Sokka. Of course I feel out of it." Tyrn told him tiredly. Taking it as a sign to leave her alone, Sokka headed forward of the group. _Mira's going to have a field day when she finds out she was right. _Tyrn thought to herself.

"Well gang, even though the trip was long and annoying, now you get to finally see what it's all about: the destination!" Sokka declared.

Aang and Katara rolled their eyes as Tyrn shook her head. "You really didn't learn anything at all, did you Sokka…" she said exasperatedly.

"And now, I present to you," Sokka announced with a sweeping gesture of his arm, "the Earth Kingdom city of O—"

The group stared in shock as they took in the sight of the red tapestries and metal on the majestic city of Omashu, now under Fire Nation control. Tyrn just groaned.

"Oh crap."

* * *

**Yay, this chapter is done! Leave me with reviews on what you thought of it, and I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can (hopefully sooner next time). **

**Until then, ciao!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Woot! New chapter in a week! I'm good! :D Consider this one to be a late Xmas/early New Years present to all of you! Happy Holidays!**

**P.S. thank you SO much for the kind reviews, everyone! Completely made my holiday :)**

**I don't own A:TLA, but I do own Tyrn and Mira. **

The group looked on in horror as the continuous columns of black smoke polluted the skies around Omashu. Tyrn just glared at the red flags that waved in the wind. _In person, it looks so much worse than I expected._

"I can't believe it." said Aang as he turned to the others. "I know the war has spread far but…Omashu always seemed…untouchable." He looked back at the once great city.

Sokka crossed his arms. "Up until now, it was. Now Ba Sing Se is the only Earth Kingdom stronghold left." As he said this, Tyrn frowned at the sense of foreboding that announced its presence in her mind.

Katara walked up to Aang and put a hand on his shoulder. "This is horrible, but…we have to move on."

"No." Aang stated. "I'm going in to find Bumi."

Sokka reached out his hand. "Aang, wait! We don't even know if Bumi is…well…"

Tyrn widened her eyes as Aang whirled around to the warrior, his serious face daring him to continue. "What? He's still what?"

"…around." Sokka finished, looking uneasy.

"Are you really underestimating that crackpot?" Tyrn asked them. "This is Bumi; he's still there, and we're gonna find him."

Tyrn nearly missed the gratified look that Aang gave her before he turned around, staff in hand. "Tyrn's right…this isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend."

The group flew down past the entrance pathway to a ledge, where a large, rusty pipe jutted out from the cliff. "A secret passage? Why didn't you use this last time?" Sokka asked as they watched Aang pry open the lid to the pipe.

A quick jump of airbending saved Tyrn from being soaked in sludge as the pipe opened with a burst of sewer water. Aang just rolled his eyes in amusement as he dove inside. "That answer your question?" he called back.

Everyone made their way inside. While airbending the sludge out of the way with her staff, Tyrn shook her head in sympathy at the sounds of Sokka being repeatedly splashed with the goo. _I really don't envy him right now, this stuff smells disgusting! _She held in the slight urge to barf as they reached the manhole above them. Aang and Tyrn jumped up onto the streets after looking around. Tyrn reached down to help Katara climb up. "Gee, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Katara remarked as she brushed off her cloak.

The three of them whipped around to find something groaning and slimy crawl out of the hole. Tyrn stifled a giggle as Katara bended some nearby water at her soggy brother and Aang giving him a quick blow-dry with his staff.

Sokka blinked as the three purple blobs on his face twitched. "AHHHHH!" he screamed, yanking at them. "THEY-WON'T-COME-OFF!"

Aang tackled him to the wall, the girls following him as he shushed Sokka. "Stop acting like they're stealing your brain." Tyrn scoffed as she rubbed the little head of the blob. "It's a purple pentapuss. It won't kill you." She smiled as she plopped the pentapuss back down the manhole, Aang copying her with the other two.

"Hey, you kids!" The Gaang looked over to find some soldiers coming their way. Aang quickly donned a cap using his belt to hide his arrow tattoo. The guard surveyed them over as he approached. "What are you doing out past curfew?"

Katara composed herself to look slightly guilty. "Sorry, we were just on our way home." Everyone turned away from the guard, Tyrn resisting the urge to glance back at the Fire Nation soldiers.

The guard was not convinced. "Wait! What's wrong with him?" he asked suspiciously, pointing at Sokka.

They all froze and turned around as the guard approached. "It's pentapox, sir." Tyrn told him. "I wouldn't touch him, it's highly contagious and deadly to non-family members." she warned, discreetly nudging Sokka.

Sokka blinked before he got the message. "Oooooh, I'm so sick, I'm dyyyying…" he groaned as he walked in a zombie-like fashion towards the guard.

Tyrn hid her satisfied smirk as the guard looked horrified. "Wait, I think I've heard of pentapox!" He turned to the man in the armor. "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"

"We should wash our hands…and burn our clothes!" With that, the guards ran away, disappearing around the corner.

Giving it a couple of seconds, Tyrn started snickering at Sokka. "We said you were highly contagious, not a mindless zombie!" Sokka just scratched the marks from the pentapuss on his cheek as he glared at Tyrn. "Maybe those pentapusses really did steal some of your brains."

Aang looked around. "The coast is clear. Come on, we need to find Bumi." he urged them. The three of them nodded as they started their search, gradually making their way up the city,

"Where would they be keeping him?" Katara whispered as they hid behind a large stack of boxes, watching as the Fire Nation guards walked by.

"Somewhere where he can't earthbend." said Aang as he glanced up at the various scaffolding. "Somewhere made of metal."

Tyrn remembered with a flash the metal coffin that Bumi was in. Everyone started to move again, stopping every now and then to hide from the numerous guards patrolling the streets. They were walking along a huge ledge when Tyrn spotted a group with lanterns walking ahead of them. Her grip on her staff tightened as she took a glance above her to see a large boulder perched at the ledge. _And here we go._

Just as she thought this, the boulder tipped downward and started to roll along the railings, gaining speed as it went. The others whirled around as they heard it approach. Tyrn got into a neutral position as she watched Aang take out the boulder, attracting the attention of the procession below. She only got a two-second glimpse of the emo daughter of the governor before she attacked, launching her knives up at them. Tyrn let out a yell as she dived backwards, narrowly avoiding the knives as the battle began.

She ran alongside Sokka, Katara and Aang as the guards (plus Mai) chased after them. A yell of surprise could be heard behind her as Katara wiped out the two guards before making an ice shield to deflect Mai's darts. Spinning around, Tyrn used her staff to take down the scaffolding before Mai could reach them. She didn't see the blade that Mai had sent through the falling rubble, and froze as she saw the blade fly towards her head.

_WHACK!_

Tyrn looked over in shock as Aang moved his staff, looking down at the decent sized gouge that the blade had scratched through it. "Wow, that was too close for comfort." she said shakily, seeing the blade being held firmly into the wall next to her.

"Are you okay?" Aang asked as the two ran back to Katara and Sokka.

The girl airbender didn't get to answer as the ground beneath them opened up, swallowing all four of them into its depths. As the hole closed up, Tyrn winced at the soreness of where her body hit the hard floor. She looked up with the others at the various people around them, looking at them with the same level of curiosity. "Uh, ow?"

* * *

Katara furrowed her eyebrows as she waterbended some water onto Tyrn's injured shoulder. "That knife-thrower girl really knew her talent." she said as the gash started to close.

Tyrn hissed in pain. "To be honest, I really didn't notice it grazed me until you guys pointed out my sleeve was turning red." She rolled her shoulder to check out the faint pink line that was left. "Thanks for the healing session, Katara." she said gratefully as Katara washed the dried blood away.

"No problem." Katara smiled as the two went over to the growing campfire. With Sokka's genius idea, they had moved the entire original population of Omashu through the gates and were hiding out in the mountains. With Aang gone on his mission to find Bumi, the others made themselves busy to make everyone feel comfortable.

Tyrn smiled at a young woman as she gave her a blanket. "It's gonna be cold out here tonight, you might need this." The woman gave her a thankful look as she accepted it. Tyrn went over to the fire and sat down, resting her head on her hand. "So we might fight Azula and friends next, huh…" A sinking feeling in her stomach came up as Tyrn frowned. "Azula's a crazed perfectionist…how the heck am I supposed to fight her? Ty Lee…she's a master acrobat with pressure points…and Mai is a knife-happy emo…"

Tyrn sighed as she laid back on the ground. "I'm no master at airbending yet, and I'm not so sure I want to take up Sokka's school of fighting just yet." _This was the problem with being from another world: in the other world, you don't have to fight maniacs that are trying to kill you every other day. _Tyrn grinned at this amusing thought.

Her vision was blocked for a second by two round eyes that peered at hers. Tyrn scrambled up to stare at a little toddler, who looked barely older than two as he gave her a toothless smile. "Okay, whose baby is this?" she asked as she picked him up. "Oh wait…you're Tom Tom, aren't you?" A blank stare answered her. "I'll take that as a yes."

The leader, Yung, suddenly walked by her, doubling back to gape at the child in her lap. "Uh…"

Tyrn just shook her head. "Dude, this isn't mine." she said as Tom Tom giggled.

A few minutes later, Tyrn saw that Aang and Flopsy had shown up at last, with Aang's disappointed aura very noticeable to the people who knew him. She looked down at Tom Tom, who blinked back up at her before raising his chubby arms. "You want to come up?" She smiled as she reached down and picked him up, holding him on her side. "You remind me of my cousins back at home…" Tyrn paused as she flashed back to memories of her childhood before coming back to reality.

As she walked towards the others, she heard the leader talking to them. "We did a head count."

"Oh no…did someone get left behind?" Katara asked worriedly.

"No…we got an extra." Yung turned and pointed at the toddler in Tyrn's arms as the others looked around him in surprise. Tyrn just shrugged at their dumbfounded expressions as Tom Tom laughed once again.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Tyrn? When the heck did you have a baby?" He winced as Katara flicked his head in annoyance and Aang shook his head in disbelief.

"He followed the group out of the city." Tyrn told them as they walked back to the fire. "Apparently Momo went looking for food and Tom Tom latched onto his tail."

"Tom Tom?" asked Katara as she tickled the happy baby.

Tyrn sat down. "That's his name."

"Hey, Tyrn? You want to get in another lesson before the sun sets?" Aang asked her.

"Sure!" Tyrn grinned, getting up and stretching. Aang smiled back as they walked away from the main area to a more deserted one to practice. They quickly bowed to each other as they started."So what did we get up to last time?"

Aang tapped his chin. "I think it was about being more evasive. You're really powerful when you're focused on the offensive, I'm really impressed on how you manage that." Tyrn smiled bashfully at the praise as Aang continued. "But you have to remember that airbending is mostly dynamic; you have to be able to evade and maneuver around your opponent as you battle them. Airbending is mostly a defensive art."

"Easier said than done." said Tyrn. "I wasn't raised as a monk; you've been true to your culture ever since you were born, and you play that into your airbending…in my world there were so many different beliefs that I just made up my own."

Aang walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. "So why not adapt some of this into your ideals? I know you can do this, we just need to find a way to do that, alright?" he smiled encouragingly.

Tyrn couldn't help but give him a smile back, albeit a hesitant one. "Sure, Sifu Aang."

The young avatar beamed as he walked back a couple feet. "Okay, so come at me." he beckoned.

Tyrn nodded as she sprinted forward, conjuring a small air ball to throw at Aang's feet to knock him to the ground. He spotted this and quickly jumped up, moving into a flip to land behind Tyrn. She turned to throw an air punch, but her eyes widened as he deftly moved back behind her as she turned, beginning to copy her every move. Tyrn tried in vain for a couple more minutes to land a hit before Aang signaled for them to stop.

Tyrn caught her breath before straightening up to look at her tutor. "Let me guess…that's what we're going to be working on?"

"Yup. Basically you need to get behind the opponent and mirror their moves, making them unable to turn and land a good hit." Aang instructed. "You can also use this to tire your opponent or confuse them, opening up an opportunity to end the fight quickly."

Tyrn nodded as she took this information in. "Alright, show me how to do it…"

The rest of the evening was spent with Tyrn trying to master this technique. However, each time she would try to maneuver behind him, she would either be too slow or…

"Ow!" she yelped as she tripped for the umpteenth time that evening. "God, this is embarrassing…"

Aang just chuckled as he helped her up. "Don't worry, you've almost got it. We just need to work more on the footing." He looked up at the sky, which had grown dark. "It's getting late. You wanna call it a day and get something to eat?"

"Yeah, I'm starving." Tyrn admitted as they headed back to the campsite. Already Katara had made the day's supper and was handing out the bowls to the others. Tyrn sat down and watched as the baby found Sokka's club and started to chew on it.

"No," Sokka told him sternly as he whipped the club away from Tom Tom, "bad Fire Nation baby!"

Rolling her eyes, Tyrn reached over and grabbed the club from Sokka's grasp and gave it to the crying toddler as Katara hit her brother softly. "Don't make him cry, Sokka, he's not an evil person." said Tyrn as Katara played with Tom Tom.

"Not yet, anyway." Yung stated grimly. "But when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army. See how cute he is then. He'll be a killer."

Katara held up Tom Tom, who was swinging his feet. "Does this look like a killer to you?" she asked.

Aang chuckled from his corner near Appa and Flopsy. "You gotta admit, he's pretty cute." he said as he patted Tom Tom's head.

Everyone looked up as a hawk's cry announced its arrival. It came to land on a rock not far from them, the Fire Nation insignia on its chest. "A messenger hawk?"

Aang walked over to the hawk and took out its curled scroll. Tyrn gasped as she held out her hand. "Wait! Let me read it so I can practice my Chinese!" With everything being written in Chinese, Tyrn had gained a lot of practice since spending some time in the Northern Water Tribe's library with Mira.

Sokka looked at her. "You already know what it says." he whispered, glancing at the leader.

"Yeah, but I never got to read the actual text on TV!" she hissed back.

Aang just smiled as he handed her the scroll. "Go for it."

Tyrn cleared her throat as she opened up the paper. "Well, here goes…'_Cowardly kidnapper, I agree to exchange…your lowly King Bumi for my son Tom Tom's safety… The exchange will take place precisely at noon tomorrow…at the base of the city's summit rock statue.'_" She looked up at their stunned faces. "Well, that was harsh."

* * *

The sun peeked over the sleepy mountains as the group prepared to go back to Omashu to conduct the tradeoff. Tyrn stood next to Sokka and Katara as Aang walked down towards them, a sleeping Tom Tom in his arms.

"You do realize that we're probably walking right into a trap, right?" Sokka questioned.

"I don't think so." said Aang. "I'm sure that the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi." He smiled down at the child. "It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this."

Tyrn had a tiny smile on her face as she looked on at the cute scene. "Here, I'll hold Tom Tom while you drive."

With that, the Gaang set off to the city. As they flew, Tyrn absentmindedly hummed as she held the toddler. _I still don't know how to defend myself against Azula, Mai and Ty Lee…_

The group soon arrived at the gargantuan statue of the Fire Lord. Tyrn turned over Tom Tom to Sokka as she grabbed her staff and jumped down, watching in a stony silence as the Fire Nation trio ascended the other end of the platform. Above them, Bumi's crackling laugh echoed as he was being lowered down by the crane.

Mai stepped forward. "You have my brother?" she called.

"He's right here." Aang replied. "We're ready to make the trade."

As Bumi was set down onto the platform, Tyrn sucked in a breath as she watched Azula, who had begun to whisper to Mai. She moved her staff in front of her as Mai walked forward, Azula's smug smile evident.

"The deal's off!" declared Mai, signaling for the workers to raise Bumi back up.

The Gaang looked up in shock as Bumi looked cheerfully down at everyone. "Haha, see you all later!" he laughed.

"Bumi!" Aang shouted, running after him. Azula ran forward and launched a powerful fire blast at him, prompting him to jump up and use his glider, losing his makeshift cap in the process. Snapping out of her stunned state, Azula quickly pursued him as Ty Lee and Mai launched their attack.

Tyrn gritted her teeth as she and Katara got ready. "We've got to get the baby out of here!" said Katara.

"Way ahead of you!" said Sokka as he finished blowing the bison whistle, heading for the ladder. He yelped as he was tripped by Ty Lee from below, sliding to the edge of the platform. Katara narrowed her eyes as she used her water whip to yank back the acrobat.

Tyrn's eyes widened as Ty Lee spotted her and started to attack. She jumped narrowly around Ty Lee as the girl aimed for her pressure points. Her instinct took over as she started doing the mirroring technique she and Aang were working on last night. "Wow, you're really agile!" Ty Lee noted as she tried throwing a few punches to no avail.

"Says you!" Tyrn said back as she tried to remain directly behind Ty Lee. "You're the…ugh…amazing acrobat!"

Ty Lee suddenly stopped her assault, almost making Tyrn fall to the ground through her momentum. "Really? You think I'm amazing?" she beamed. "Wow, you're so nice!"

Tyrn sweatdropped at the ditzy circus performer. _Are you serious? _"Uh, yeah…you know, we're supposed to be battling here?"

Ty Lee gasped for air as Tyrn suddenly hit her with a powerful gust using her staff, following up with a powerful gust that collapsed her to the ground. "Wait, how did you do that?"

Tyrn panted as she ran to help Katara with Mai. "You tell me, circus freak!" She spun around as she felt Ty Lee attempt to land a hit on a pressure point, blocking her attack with her staff. Ty Lee looked stunned as she somersaulted over Tyrn and tried to attack her arms to block the flow of Chi, with no success.

"How are you doing it?" she demanded. "How are you blocking my attacks?"

"I don't want to be paralyzed, is that reason enough for you?" Tyrn answered, trying to jump around Ty Lee. She gasped as she felt Ty Lee hit her upper arm, followed by the base of her neck and the other arm. Immediately a feeling of loss hit her limbs. _Oh no, my bending!_ She tried to bend a wind current, with no success.

Ty Lee gave her a smirk. "How are you going to defend yourself now?"

Tyrn sighed in relief as Ty Lee was knocked back with the appearance of Sokka's boomerang. "I seem to manage!" Sokka shouted as he landed with Appa. Mai and Ty Lee were quickly swept off the platform by Appa's tail as Katara and Tyrn climbed up. They quickly took off, headed for the giant dust cloud that Aang and Bumi were forming as they sped down the mail system.

Sokka pointed at them. "Come on, we can catch them!"

He steered Appa next to the duo. With a grunt, Aang used a powerful current to propel Bumi and himself off of the track. Unfortunately, he overshot it and coasted over the saddle, landing on another mail track and zipping out of sight, the Fire Nation princess following them.

Tyrn winced as she felt her arm start to tingle. "The chi block…I think it's going away…"

"Chi block?" Katara asked, concerned. "What's that?"

"The girl I was fighting…she blocked the chi flow in my body with pressure points." Tyrn told her. "I couldn't bend at all."

Katara gasped. "That's horrible!"

"Now you know how I feel!" Sokka said sarcastically as he steered Appa towards Aang, who was talking to Bumi about neutral jing.

Tyrn sighed as she sat back to wait for her bending to come back. Although she was able to fight Ty Lee, she wasn't able to avoid the chi blocking technique. _I definitely need to work on more defensive stuff with Aang…which reminds me, I finally got down the mirror technique!_

Aang flew back onto the saddle and looked around. "Bumi's not coming with us, he need's to free his city. I guess we need to find another earthbending teacher." Katara and Sokka nodded in understanding as Aang looked at Tyrn. "What's with the happy grin?"

"Oh!" Tyrn looked up, smiling. "I used the mirror technique on the girl I was fighting, and I didn't trip!"

Aang broke out into a smile of his own. "That's awesome, congratulations!" Tyrn grinned as she accepted high-fives all around. _At least I know how to partially defend myself around one of those three…_

* * *

On the other side of the city, the three girls in question were walking away from the palace towards the entrance gate of Omashu.

"So we're tracking down your brother and uncle, huh?" Mai commented dryly as she followed Ty Lee and Azula.

"It's not just Zuko and Iroh, anymore." said Azula, her arms crossed. "We have a third target now…the Avatar."

Mai nodded, and then turned to Ty Lee, who had been quite for the last few minutes. "What's up with you?"

Ty Lee furrowed her eyebrows. "It was that girl I was fighting…it's like she knew what I was trying to do to her chi flow, and she blocked all of my attacks."

"That's unusual." Mai raised an eyebrow. "You usually take people by surprise with your attacks."

"I got her in the end. And…she…I think she airbended." Ty Lee said slowly.

Mai and Azula's eyes widened as they turned to the confused brunette. "Are you sure, Ty Lee?" Azula demanded.

Mai frowned. "The airbenders all died years ago, she couldn't be an airbender."

"Yeah, but…" Ty Lee moved her hands to describe it. "She used her staff thingy to hit me…and I felt pushed back, but not by the staff…it was really weird!"

Azula narrowed her eyes as she thought. "…an airbender…interesting…" she smirked as she thought.

* * *

Peeking over the rooftop, Tyrn smiled down at the little toddler that was squirming in the holder. "You be a good little boy and not chase after random animals anymore, you got it?" Her eyes softened at the baby as he looked up at her and gave her a toothless smile. "Goodbye, Tom Tom." she said affectionately, giving him a little kiss on his forehead.

She airbended down to the balcony where the parents stood at the railing and silently took out Tom Tom, placing him on the ground. As he toddled towards his parents, Tyrn jumped back up onto the rooftop and watched the happy parents reunite with their son. Her face was a little sad as she watched before she turned around, ready to go back to the Gaang.

"Thank you."

Tyrn whirled back around. The mother was staring straight at her, holding Tom Tom in her arms with a look of immense gratitude. Tyrn stared back for a second before giving her a tiny smile and nod before disappearing into the night.

_Not everyone in the Fire Nation are truly bad…I know this of course, but somehow, seeing good, living proof in the flesh, when so many of their people have attacked us and destroyed the lives of people around them…it's something totally different all together._

**As usual, read and review! I'll see if I can work on the next chappie this weekend and put it up next week for y'all. Next up: the Swamp!**

**Until then, ciao!**

* * *


	19. AN

Hey guys.

No, this is not an update. And I know a lot of people have been waiting for an update, but please hear me out.

When I first made Tyrn, I was at a point in my life where I wasn't very realistic about things. Tyrn was (and still is) an extension of myself, something I tried to project on what I wanted to be in order to escape into this incredibly awesome world of Avatar, where I could bend air and fight and have a super awesome guy to crush on (and probably have crush back because come on, it's my fanfic).

After a while, I suddenly started realizing how much of a Mary-Sue this story and Tyrn were becoming. Instead of making my own story out of this universe, I had just randomly stuck in this representation of myself to play out my fantasies, which is why I had lost inspiration after Chapter 18. The singing, the lack of flaws in both Tyrn and Mira, all of them are making this story harder to write as a credible fanfic instead of a Mary-Sue fic.

Am I abandoning this story? No. Rather, I'm taking a step back to look it over and rewrite a big portion of it. Yes, Tyrn will still be there (although her name will be changed to Tayrn, just to give you guys a heads up), and so will Mira. However, a set of new OC's I've made will also be joining in along with Tayrn and Mira as the story goes along. Otherwise, a lot of the main plot points so far will remain the same (Tayrn crushing on Aang, Aang and Katara getting together much earlier on, etc.)

I won't make any promises about when the new version will be up, however. I'm still a student, and life gets in the way whether I want to or not. I'm also not a huge writer; my main passions lie elsewhere (side note, if you want visuals on what the new OC group will look like, check my deviantART account using my fanfiction username, Kikoia). I will lose inspiration more often than not while rewriting the rest of the story, despite having most if not all of it generally mapped out. So please do not spam me with reviews demanding for new chapters, I will put them up as I get to them.

That being said, thank you to all of the people who have read the story and took the time to review it. I never imagined having so many people read this and relate to Tyrn and Mira, all in my very first posted fanfic. I thank you with all I have for being patient (or relatively patient) and for loving my characters as much as I do.

- Kikoia


End file.
